Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Malaysia: findings from a nationwide cross-sectional study
Abstract
Published Online xxx https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.lanwpc.2023. 100802 New cases of HCV are reported each year, with an estimated 58 million people worldwide, and 10 million people in the Western Pacific, carrying the infection. While in Malaysia, McDonald et al. previously modelled that, 2.5% prevalence with an estimated 453,700 HCV infection. Although models might provide insightful information, it might take some time to interpret the findings. Hence, seroprevalence study was conducted to estimate the true burden of HCV infection and chronic HCV in Malaysia and to determine the proportion of diagnosis and treatment status among those who were infected with HCV. We organized a cross-sectional study at the end of 2020 across Malaysia. We used a two-stage stratified random sampling technique to select representative community dwelling individuals aged ≥15 years. The optimum size sample required was 5000 based on the single proportion sample size formula, adjusted for design effect and non-response. We obtained written consents and assent (if ≤ 18 years) and conducted faceto-face interviews to collect sociodemographic characteristics and HCV status. We collected blood samples and extracted serum to test for HCV antibodies. A positive sample (denotes HCV infection) would be tested further for HCV core antigen. Positive results on both tests denote chronic infection. We used SPSS v26 to perform descriptive analysis and apply weights in complex sampling analysis to obtain…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 5,957 participants or records.
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