Prevalence, genotypes and factors associated with HCV infection among prisoners in Northeastern Brazil

Table 1 Characteristics of prisoners with positive serology for hepatitis C virus in Sergipe, Brazil

	n (total = 131)	%
Viremia (RNA)	11	84.6
Genotype
1a	6	54.5
1b	1	9.1
1	3	27.3
3	1	9.1

¹One patient refused to provide a blood sample for polymerase chain reaction.

Table 2 Characteristics of 422 prisoners in Sergipe, Brazil

	n (total = 422)	%
Gender
Male	303	71.8
Female	119	28.2
Age (yr)
Mean (SD)	32.7 (8.8)	21.1
≤ 25	89	28.4
25-30	120	19.4
30-35	82	14.5
35-40	61	16.6
> 40	70
Education level
Uneducated	45	10.7
Less than high school	312	73.9
High school or more	65	15.4
Religion
Catholic	238	56.4
Protestant	86	20.4
Other	98	23.2
Race
White	141	33.5
Black	106	25.2
Multiracial	160	38
Other	14	3.3
Marital status
Single	167	39.6
Married	117	27.7
Widowed	15	3.6
Stable union	111	26.3
Divorced	12	2.8
HCV seropositivity	13	3.1

HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

Table 3 Characteristics of injecting drug users in prisoners in Sergipe, Brazil

	n (total = 43)	%
Drug
Cocaine	21	48.8
Heroine	2	4.7
Benzydamine	12	27.9
Other	11	25.6
Duration of use (mean in years)	5.05 (5.7)
Use in the last 2 mo	5	11.6
Started to use during imprisonment	3	7
Uses inside the prison	5	11.6
Needle sharing	14	32.6
Anti-HCV (+)	9	20.9

HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

Table 4 Socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics of 422 prisoners by serologic hepatitis C virus status, Sergipe, Brazil

Variable	HCV (-)	HCV (+)	P-value
Gender (male)	295 (72.1%)	8 (61.5%)	0.531
Mean age (yrs)	32.56 (8.8)	36.77 (6.4)	0.019
Ethnicity (white)	137 (33.6%)	4 (30.8%)	0.833
Christian religion	314 (76.8%)	10 (76.9%)	0.99
Family income (R$)	777 (1205)	684 (472)	0.923
Years of schooling (mean)	6.5 (5.4)	6.4 (2.9)	0.565
Mean incarcerated time (mo)	43.5 (40)	30.6 (30)	0.253
Previous imprisonment	139 (34.0%)	11 (84.6%)	< 0.001
History of alcohol use	298 (73.0%)	10 (73.9.0%)	0.756
CAGE (mean)	1.00 (1.2)	1.69 (1.2)	0.033
Household contact with HCV carrier	17 (4.2%)	4 (30.8%)	0.002
History of tattooing	244 (59.7%)	13 (100%)	0.003
Tattooing inside prison	110 (27.0%)	6 (46.2%)	0.202
History of piercing	39 (9.5%)	-	0.62
Previous blood transfusion	39 (9.5%)	-	0.62
Previously shared razors, toothbrushes, nail trimmers or scissors	241 (58.9%)	8 (61.5%)	0.85
Getting wounded by a sharp weapon in a struggle	129 (31.5%)	3 (23.1%)	0.762
Total	409 (96.9%)	13 (3.1%)

HCV: Hepatitis C virus; CAGE: Cut down, Annoyed by criticism, Guilty e Eye-opener.

Table 5 Sexual practices and drug use of 422 prisoners by serologic hepatitis C virus status, Sergipe, Brazil

Variable	HCV (-)	HCV (+)	P-value
Never or rarely used condom	103 (25.3%)	6 (46.2%)	0.109
Sexual orientation (Heterosexual)	315 (77.2%)	13 (100%)	0.081
Number of partners in the last year (mean)	2.44 (8.1)	2.54 (5.3)	0.594
Age at first sexual intercourse (mean in years)	14.54 (2.3)	15.00 (1.7)	0.456
Sexually transmitted diseases	144 (35.2%)	6 (46.2%)	0.557
History of genital herpes	6 (1.5%)	1 (7.7%)	0.198
History of syphilis	17 (4.2%)	3 (23.1%)	0.019
History of gonorrhea	109 (26.7%)	2 (15.4%)	0.528
Partner
HCV (+)	4 (1.0%)	2 (15.4%)	0.012
Illegal drug user	223 (54.5%)	10 (76.9%)	0.11
Injecting drug user	24 (5.9%)	1 (7.7%)	0.553
Previous imprisonment	124 (30.3%)	5 (38.5%)	0.548
Ever paid or been paid for sex	242 (59.2%)	5 (38.5%)	0.136
History of illegal drug use	298 (72.9%)	13 (100%)	0.025
Inhaled cocaine	194 (47.4%)	11 (84.6%)	0.008
Duration of inhaled cocaine (mean in mo)	107.6 (273.1)	86.1 (80.3)	0.006
Marijuana	277 (67.7%)	13 (100%)	0.012
Duration of marijuana use (mean in mo)	129.5 (220.5)	198.5 (101.4)	0.002
Crack	129 (31.5%)	5 (38.5%)	0.561
Duration of crack use (mean in mo)	77.9 (254.1)	162.0 (371.9)	0.369
History of injecting drug use	34 (8.3%)	9 (69.2%)	< 0.001
Duration of injecting drug use (mean in mo)	26.1 (148.0)	261.2 (445.7)	< 0.001
Use of injecting drugs inside prison	5 (1.2%)	-	0.855
Ever shared needles and syringes or other injecting equipment	11 (2.7%)	3 (23.1%)	0.007
Total	409 (96.9%)	13 (3.1%)

HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

Table 6 Multivariate logistic regression of characteristics associated with positive serology for anti-hepatitis C virus

Characteristic	Crude odds ratio	Adjusted odds ratio	95%CI	P-value
Injecting drug user	24.8	23.3	6.0-90.8	0.0000
History of household contact with HCV carrier	10.2	14.1	2.3-85.4	0.004
Previous syphilis	6.9	9.8	1.7-55.2	0.009
Age > 30 yr	5.6	5.5	1.1-29.2	0.043

Hosmer-Lemeshow test (P = 0.420). HCV: Hepatitis C virus; CI: Confidence interval.