Table 1.
Characteristics of 50 Survey Respondents with Hepatitis C Virus, Seen by Hepatology Services, Capital District Health Authority, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2008
| Characteristic | No. (%) of Respondents* |
|---|---|
| Age (years) | |
| Mean ± SD | 51 ± 6 |
| Range | 33–64 |
| Sex | |
| Male | 35 (70) |
| Female | 15 (30) |
| Geographic location† | |
| Urban | 44 (88) |
| Rural | 6 (12) |
| Education | |
| Below high school graduation | 6 (12) |
| Completed high school | 8 (16) |
| Trade certificate or diploma | 11 (22) |
| Completed college | 12 (24) |
| Completed university | 13 (26) |
| Employment status | |
| Working | 16 (32) |
| Not working: permanently | 15 (30) |
| Not working: temporarily | 13 (26) |
| Household income in 2007/2008 ($) | |
| < 30 000 | 19 (38) |
| 30 000 to 69 999 | 15 (30) |
| ≥ 70 000 | 16 (32) |
| Health-related characteristics | |
| General health status | |
| Very good | 11 (22) |
| Good | 15 (30) |
| Fair | 19 (38) |
| Bad or very bad | 5 (10) |
| No. of current comorbidities | |
| 0 | 6 (12) |
| 1 | 6 (12) |
| 2 | 12 (24) |
| 3 | 7 (14) |
| 4 | 9 (18) |
| 5 | 5 (10) |
| ≥6 | 5 (10) |
| Duration of infection with hepatitis C virus (years) | |
| 1 to 3 | 11 (22) |
| > 3 to 10 | 27 (54) |
| > 10 | 11 (22) |
| Status of antiviral treatment for hepatitis C | |
| On treatment | 13 (26) |
| Treatment completed | 35 (70) |
*
Except where indicated otherwise. Percentage data are reported only for characteristics identified by at least 5 respondents, so do not sum to 100 in some cases.
†
Urban or rural location was identified from postal codes (collected during the interview). The first 3 alphanumeric characters of each postal code represents a community identifier. A person is defined by Statistics Canada to be living in a rural area if the population density is less than 400/km2 (www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/af-fdr.cgi?l=eng&loc=/pub/21-601-m/2002061/4193597-eng.pdf)