Sistema de Salut de Catalunya
Institut Català de la Salut
[Vargas-Accarino E] Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain. Grup de Recerca de les Malalties Hepàtiques, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain. CIBERehd, enfermedades hepáticas y digestivas, Madrid, Spain. [Rando-Segura A] CIBERehd, enfermedades hepáticas y digestivas, Madrid, Spain. Servei de Microbiologia, Vall d’Hebron Hospital Universitari, Barcelona, Spain. [Úbeda MA] CAP Horta, Barcelona, Spain. [Valls I] CAP San Rafael, Barcelona, Spain. [Ventosa C] CAP Guineueta, Barcelona, Spain. [García N] CAP Río de Janeiro, Barcelona, Spain. [Palom A] Grup de Recerca de les Malalties Hepàtiques, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain. CIBERehd, enfermedades hepáticas y digestivas, Madrid, Spain. [Romero-Vico J] Grup de Recerca de les Malalties Hepàtiques, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain. [Ruiz-Cobo JC, Buti M] Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain. Grup de Recerca de les Malalties Hepàtiques, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Barcelona, Spain. CIBERehd, enfermedades hepáticas y digestivas, Madrid, Spain. Servei d’Hepatologia, Vall d’Hebron Hospital Universitari, Barcelona, Spain
Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus
2025-11-25T12:10:11Z
2025-11-25T12:10:11Z
2025-10
hepatitis B; hepatitis C; Primary care
Hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; Atención primaria
hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; Atenció primària
Introduction Most international guidelines recommend screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) only for individuals with risk factors or elevated ALT levels. However, this approach may not suffice to eradicate viral hepatitis. This study evaluates the application of EASL HBV and HCV screening guidelines in primary care centres (PCCs). Methods The study included two components: (1) A retrospective review (January 2021–March 2023) of microbiology data to determine testing rates, analyse clinical characteristics, and assess management; and (2) A prospective intervention (March–April 2024) involving HBV and HCV screening and risk factor surveys for all adults attending two PCCs for blood collection. Results In the retrospective analysis of 90 170 patients, HBV and HCV screening rates were 16% and 10%, respectively. Among HBsAg-positive patients (n = 84 (0.5%)), 67% lacked risk factors or elevated ALT. Among anti-HCV-positive (n = 277 (3%)) and HCV RNA-positive (n = 45 (0.5%)) patients, 54% and 46% respectively lacked these indicators. In the prospective study of 1030 patients (mean age 55, 39.6% men, 73% Spanish), anti-HCV was detected in 1.16% of cases (HCV RNA in 0.19%). Of these, 67% lacked risk factors or elevated ALT. No HBsAg-positive cases were identified, and hepatitis B vaccination status was uncertain for 50% of patients. Conclusion Risk factor-based screening for HBV and HCV in primary care is a suboptimal approach. More than half of the patients testing positive lacked identifiable risk factors or elevated ALT levels. Universal one-time screening for all adults could address these limitations and significantly advance viral hepatitis elimination efforts.
This research was partially funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (PI23/01065).
Article
Published version
English
Hepatitis B - Diagnòstic; Hepatitis C - Diagnòstic; Hepatitis C - Factors de risc; Hepatitis B - Factors de risc; Cribatge (Medicina); ANALYTICAL, DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES, AND EQUIPMENT::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Statistics as Topic::Probability::Risk::Risk Factors; DISEASES::Virus Diseases::DNA Virus Infections::Hepadnaviridae Infections::Hepatitis B; DISEASES::Virus Diseases::Hepatitis, Viral, Human::Hepatitis C; ANALYTICAL, DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES, AND EQUIPMENT::Diagnosis::Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures::Mass Screening; TÉCNICAS Y EQUIPOS ANALÍTICOS, DIAGNÓSTICOS Y TERAPÉUTICOS::técnicas de investigación::métodos epidemiológicos::estadística como asunto::probabilidad::riesgo::factores de riesgo; ENFERMEDADES::virosis::infecciones por virus ADN::infecciones por Hepadnaviridae::hepatitis B; ENFERMEDADES::virosis::hepatitis viral humana::hepatitis C; TÉCNICAS Y EQUIPOS ANALÍTICOS, DIAGNÓSTICOS Y TERAPÉUTICOS::diagnóstico::técnicas y procedimientos diagnósticos::cribado sistemático
Wiley
Liver International;45(10)
https://doi.org/10.1111/liv.70330
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/PEICTI2021-2023/PI23%2F01065
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Articles científics - HVH [3396]
