Download files
Abstract
Although Australian epidemiology of HBV and HCV has been well described for populations groups at higher risk, but the information available for groups generally considered to be lower risk is much more limited. An understanding of the prevalence of these infections and their risk factors in antenatal women is important to guide testing policy and practice. A study was therefore conducted of the epidemiology of hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection in women. In addition, women were asked about their experience with antenatal testing. A total of 516 women participated in the survey, of these 479 (95%) women had been tested for HCV antibodies .The prevalence of HCV antibodies was 4% overall, and 2% among women who were unaware of their HCV status prior to their antenatal test. A history of injecting drug use and residing with a HCV positive person were significantly associated with HCV infection in multivariate analyses. HBV testing was conducted in 468 (99.6%) of women, and the overall prevalence was 2%. Risk factors identified were birthplace in countries of South East Asia. Women were asked about their perception of antenatal testing and pre-test information. Nearly a third (143, 30.5%) of women who had been tested for HCV infection either said that they did not know whether they had been tested, or said that they had declined testing. The corresponding proportion for HBV infection was 28.8% (135). Over 65% and 66% of women said that had not received any information about testing for HCV and HBV respectively. The finding that virtually all antenatal women were being tested for HCV was in contrast to government and non-government organisation policies of selective screening in place during the study period. Of concern was the substantial proportion of women who were tested despite reporting that they had declined their clinician s offer to test for HCV and HBV, and the large number of women who reported an absence of pre-test information. Women who said they had received information reported the delivery and quality of information varied according to the antenatal clinician group, but perceived the overall quality as poor.