Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C and factors associated with
               this in crack users

seroepidemiological survey, undertaken in the Psycho-Social Care Centers for Drugs and Alcohol (CAPS AD) in Piauí in the period December 2011 to May 2012. A questionnaire was administered and blood samples were collected for serological research. Fisher's exact test and the Mann-Whitney test were used, with a level of significance of (p<0.05).

RESULTS:

the prevalence of Anti-HCV was 05 (1.4%) and 04 (1.1%) for the RNA-HCV. There was a statistically significant association between hepatitis C (serological marker RNA-HCV) and age, being resident at home, length of use of crack, interruption of the use of crack, and the habit of sharing the crack pipes.

CONCLUSION:

the findings support the need to implement health policies aimed at crack users, due to the accelerated process of physical and psychological deterioration to which these are subject.

Hepatitis C; Prevalence; Risk factors; Crack Cocaine

Variables	n	%
Length of use of crack (months)
Up to 12	78	22.1
13 to 24	48	13.6
25 to 36	42	11.9
37 and more	185	52.4
Frequency of crack use
Daily	197	55.8
Once a week	26	7.4
Twice or three times a week	84	23.8
04 to 05 times a week	33	9.3
Others	13	3.7
Stopped using crack
Yes	222	62.9
No	131	37.1
Material used in making the crack pipe or ingesting the crack*
PVC	71	20.1
Aluminum cans	191	54.1
Glass	7	2.0
Mesclados	197	55.8
Others	69	19.5
Habit of sharing the pipe
Yes	255	72.2
No	98	27.8
Use of the drug in injectable form
Yes	46	13.0
No	307	87.0
Sharing of needles/syringes for use of injectable drugs in the past (n=46)
Frequently	5	10.9
Sometimes	14	30.4
Never	27	58.7

Variables	n	%
Usually has sexual relations
Only with women	276	78.2
Only with men	42	11.9
With either sex	34	9.6
Has never had sexual relations	1	0.3
Number of sexual partners in the last 6 months (n=301)
One	143	40.5
2 to 5	106	30.0
6 and more	52	14.7
Has already had relations with a user of injectable drugs (n=352)
Yes	28	8.0
No	324	92.0
Uses Condoms (n=352)
Frequently	191	54.3
Sometimes	105	29.8
Never	56	15.9
Has already had a STD (n=352)
Yes	110	31.2
No	242	68.8
Has a history of imprisonment
Yes	236	66.9
No	117	33.1
Length of imprisonment (in days) (n=236)
1 to 7	113	47.9
8 to 96	56	23.7
120 to 6,935	67	28.4
Has already had a blood transfusion
Yes	31	8.8
No	322	91.2
Year of blood transfusion (n=31)
1971 to 1993	5	16.1
1994 to 2012	26	83.9
Has a tattoo
Yes	209	59.2
No	144	40.8
Use of piercing
Yes	40	11.3
No	313	88.7
Blister or lesion in the oral mucosa
Yes	43	12.2
No	310	87.8
Lesion in the nasal mucosa
Yes	18	5.1
No	335	94.9

Variables	n	%
Anti-HCV
Reagent	5	1.4
Non-reagent	348	98.6
RNA-HCV
Reagent	4	1.1
Non-reagent	349	98.9

RNA-HCV	n	Mean	Standard Deviation	p value*
Age				0.02
Reagent	4	40.2	8.2
Non-reagent	349	29.3	8.7
Resident at home				<0.01
Reagent	4	1.0
Non-reagent	349	4.1	2.2
Family income (in Brazilian reais)				0.43
Reagent	4	916.5	589.0
Non-reagent	327	1677.6	1999.6
Months of crack use				0.01
Reagent	4	132.0	73.9
Non-reagent	349	55.5	50.2
Number of partners in the previous six months				0.53
Reagent	4	7.0	7.6
Non-reagent	349	3.3	6.4
Days imprisoned				0.15
Reagent	4	274.0	182.0
Non-reagent	230	215.9	715.2

Variables	RNA-HCV		p value*
	Reagent	Non-reagent
	n (%)	n (%)
Interruption in the use of crack			0.01
Yes	-	222 (100.0)
No	04 (3.8)	127 (96.9)
Habit of sharing the crack pipe			<0.01
Yes	-	251 (98.4)
No	04 (1.6)	93 (94.9)
Use of injectable drug			0.57
Yes	-	46 (100.0)
No	04 (1.3)	303 (98.7)
Has previously had STD			0.22
Yes	-	110 (100.0)
No	04 (1.6)	239 (98.4)
Has been imprisoned			0.19
Yes	04 (1.7)	232 (98.3)
No	-	117 (100.0)
Has a tattoo			0.12
Yes	04 (1.9)	205 (98.1)
No	-	144 (100.0)
Has body piercing			0.61
Yes	-	40 (100.0)
No	04 (1.3)	309 (98.7)
Blisters or lesion in oral mucosa			0.59
Yes	-	43 (100.0)
No	04 (1.3)	306 (98.7)
Lesion in nasal mucosa			0.81
Yes	-	18 (100.0)
No	04 (1.2)	331 (98.8)

Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto / Universidade de São Paulo Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-902 Ribeirão Preto SP Brazil, Tel.: +55 (16) 3315-3451 / 3315-4407 - Ribeirão Preto - SP - Brazil
E-mail: rlae@eerp.usp.br

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[1] Corresponding Author: Laís Carvalho de Sá Rua Senador Esmaragdo de Freitas, 1116 Bairro: Piçarra CEP: 64017-200, Teresina, PI, Brasil E-mail: laiscarvalhodesa@hotmail.com

Brasil

Brasil

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C and factors associated with this in crack users 1 1 Supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), process # 402759/2010-9

OBJECTIVE:

METHOD:

RESULTS:

CONCLUSION:

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C and factors associated with this in crack users ¹ 1 Supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), process # 402759/2010-9