Getting to Full Disclosure: HCV Testing and Status Disclosure Behaviors Among PWID and Their Injecting Partners
People who inject drugs (PWID) face a substantial risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, often in the context of multiple injecting partnerships. The disclosure of HCV status to injecting partners holds significant implications for prevention and care among PWID.
Methods
In a study, published in BMC Public Health, researchers used cross-sectional dyadic survey data (collected from both members of injecting partnerships) to estimate the prevalence of HCV-status disclosure between PWID and their injecting partners, overall and by partnership HCV infection status.
Results
Across the two study sites (San Francisco and Montreal), 91% of participants self-reported receiving an HCV test, resulting in 162 individuals and 131 partnerships. A majority (57%) self-reported being HCV positive. HCV status disclosure was prevalent overall (79%) and was most common (41%) with partnerships where both partners’ status was positive (+ / +) but less common (17%) when one partner was positive (±) and when neither partner was positive (-/-) (32%); no disclosure was more common when both partners were negative (-/-) (50%).
Conclusions
Overall, the study demonstrated a high prevalence of HCV testing and subsequent disclosure of HCV status within injecting partnerships. This presents an opportunity to leverage these relationships for treatment linkage and prevention messaging.