Table 2. Common clinical characteristics that may influence medical providers' decision of referral HIV-infected patients for hepatitis C treatment consideration.
Clinical characteristic | Referred n = 303 (%) | Non-referred n = 259 (%) | P value |
Not engaged in care | 31 (10) | 95 (37) | <0.0001 |
Unstable housing | 22 (7) | 39 (15) | 0.003 |
Most recent CD4 cell count ≤200 cells/mm3 | 51 (17) | 70 (27) | 0.003 |
Ongoing neuropsychiatric disorders | 143 (47) | 62 (24) | <0.0001 |
Ongoing drug and/or alcohol abuse | 118 (39) | 75 (29) | 0.013 |
Decompensated cirrhosis | 34 (11) | 21 (8) | 0.22 |
Active opportunistic infections | 5 (2) | 9 (4) | 0.17 |
Platelets ≤50,000/mm3 * | 11 (4) | 6 (2) | 0.37 |
Anemia ≤10 g/dL* | 11 (4) | 10 (4) | 0.89 |
Malignancy other than hepatocellular carcinoma | 6 (2) | 15 (6) | 0.02 |
Cardiovascular disease | 16 (5) | 13 (5) | 0.89 |
Chronic kidney disease 3b (<45 mL/min/1.73m2) | 10 (3) | 13 (5) | 0.31 |
Other medical comorbidity that takes clinical care priority | 26 (9) | 14 (5) | 0.14 |
*Two patients in the HCV non-referred group did not have available hemoglobin and platelet values.