Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of HCV study participants
| Interval variables | Categorical variables |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) | Median (range) |
N (%) | |
| DEMOGRAPHICS (N=309) | |||
| Sex | |||
| Male | 189 (61.2) | ||
| Female | 120 (38.8) | ||
| Mean (SD) age | 52.6 (7.5) | 53 (23-78) | |
| Race (N=307) | |||
| White | 100 (32.4) | ||
| Black | 196 (63.4) | ||
| Other | 13 (4.2) | ||
| Education | |||
| High school graduate | 178 (57.6) | ||
| Marital status | |||
| Married | 68 (22.1) | ||
| Divorced | 91 (29.6) | ||
| Separated | 41 (13.3) | ||
| Widowed | 22 (7.1) | ||
| Never married | 86 (27.9) | ||
| Living with intimate partner | 80 (25.9) | ||
| Current employment status (N=268) | |||
| Employed | 51 (19.0) | ||
| Unemployed | 69 (25.8) | ||
| Disabled | 126 (47.0) | ||
| HCV HISTORY/TREATMENT | |||
| Mean (SD) months aware of HCV diagnosis (N=293) | 98.0 (95.6) | 72 (0-444) | |
| How infected with HCV (N=264) | |||
| Don’t know | 128 (48.5) | ||
| Drug use (sharing needles, paraphernalia) | 78 (29.6) | ||
| Blood transfusion | 27 (10.2) | ||
| Tattoo or body piercing | 16 (6.1) | ||
| Sex | 6 (2.3) | ||
| Occupational (e.g., needle stick, blood splash in eye) | 5 (1.9) | ||
| Medical procedure (e.g., surgery, injection) | 3 (1.1) | ||
| Shot or stabbed | 2 (0.8) | ||
| Ever took medication for HCV (N=302) | 92 (30.5) | ||
| Ever stopped HCV medication for reason other than SVR (N=77) | 52 (67.5) | ||
| Ever completed HCV treatment (N=84) | 33 (39.3) | ||
| HCV treatment response (N=59) | 15 (25.4) | ||
| HCV KNOWLEDGE | |||
| Level of knowledge of HCV and its treatment (N=302) | |||
| Complete | 22 (7.4) | ||
| General | 66 (22.1) | ||
| Some | 88 (29.4) | ||
| Very little | 79 (26.4) | ||
| None | 44 (14.7) | ||
| # correct of 9 true/false HCV knowledge items (N=107) | 4.0 (1.4) | 4 (1-7) | |
|
HCV EFFECTS ON FUNCTIONING AND BURDEN OF
ILLNESS (N=266) |
|||
| HCV-related symptoms in last week | 5.4 (3.6) | 1 (0=10) | 212 (87.6) |
| Severe HCV-related symptoms in last week | 1.7 (2.0) | 5 (0-16) | 137 (57.6) |
| Had days sick in bed last month | 3.0 (5.6) | 1 (1-10) | 141 (47.0) |
| Had days missing work/activities in last month for HCV (N=266) | 1.9 (6.0) | 0 (0-31) | 52 (19.6) |
| HCV-related adverse functioning in last month (1-10 scale; 10=most negatively affected): |
|||
| Work (N=224) | 4.3 (4.1) | 4 (0-10) | |
| Home (N=285) | 3.4 (3.6) | 2 (0-10) | |
| Social leisure (N=284) | 3.8 (3.9) | 3 (0-10) | |
| Personal leisure (N=286) | 3.1 (3.5) | 1 (0-10) | |
| Close relationships (N=285) | 3.4 (3.8) | 1 (0-10) | |
| Sex (N=276) | 4.1 (4.1) | 3 (0-10) | |
| Average of subscales (N=287) | 3.6 (3.2) | 3.2 (0-10) | |
| Amount of burden from HCV: (N=284) | |||
| Large | 33 (11.6) | ||
| Moderate | 57 (20.1) | ||
| Small | 58 (20.4) | ||
| None | 136 (47.9) | ||
| In last month, HCV caused problems (N=235) | 4.2 (4.2) | 3 (0-12) | 226 (74.8) |
| In last month, participant had identified needs for help (N=302) | 3.3 (3.3) | 2 (0-12) | 236 (78.2) |
|
MEDICAL COMORBIDITIES (lifetime) (n=309) (combined interview and clinical chart variables) |
|||
| Heart disease | 52 (16.8) | ||
| Stroke | 27 (8.7) | ||
| Cancer | 32 (10.4) | ||
| Asthma | 60 (19.4) | ||
| Diabetes mellitus | 52 (16.8) | ||
| Renal disease | 30 (9.7) | ||
| Arthritis | 144 (46.6) | ||
| Tuberculosis | 28 (9.1) | ||
| Epilepsy | 12 (3.9) | ||
| Bleeding ulcer | 24 (7.8) | ||
| Obesity | 19 (6.2) | ||
| Other medical comorbidity | 250 (80.9) | ||
| Any medical comorbidity | 285 (92.2) | ||
| LABORATORY VALUES | |||
| HCV viral load by polymerase chain reaction (1000s) (N=171) | 2,571 (3,775) | 1,172 | |
| Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (N=126) | 72.6 (54.7) | 56.5 | |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (N=126) | 63.4 (38.9) | 50.0 | |
| Bilirubin (N=210) | 0.7 (0.7) | 0.5 | |
| Alkaline phosphatase (N=208) | 92.0 (40.9) | 83.0 | |
| Albumin (N=203) | 4.3 (3.9) | 4.1 | |
| Creatinine (N=208) | 1.1 (1.4) | 0.9 | |
| Platelet count (1000s) (N=205) | 212.2 (108.7) | 196.0 | |
| White blood count (WBC) (N=208) | 6.5 (2.6) | 6.3 | |
| Hemoglobin (N=208) | 13.6 (2.0) | 13.9 | |
| PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS | |||
| Any psychiatric disorder (N=309) | |||
| Lifetime diagnosis | 273 (88.4) | ||
| Current diagnosis | 166 (53.7) | ||
| Major depressive disorder | |||
| Lifetime diagnosis (N=304) | 177 (58.2) | ||
| Current diagnosis (N=309) | 121 (39.2) | ||
| Posttraumatic stress disorder | |||
| Lifetime diagnosis (N=307) | 112 (36.5) | ||
| Current diagnosis (N=309) | 69 (22.3) | ||
| Alcohol use disorder | |||
| Lifetime diagnosis (N=309) | 163 (52.8) | ||
| Current diagnosis (N=309) | 31 (10.0) | ||
| Drug use disorder | |||
| Lifetime diagnosis (n=298) | 208 (69.8) | ||
| Current diagnosis (N=309) | 33 (10.7) | ||
| RECENT SUBSTANCE USE (combined data from all variables) | |||
| Substance use in last 6 months (N=309) | |||
| Cannabis | 102 (34.1) | ||
| Opiates | 25 (8.1) | ||
| Cocaine | 55 (18.3) | ||
| Amphetamine | 14 (4.5) | ||
| Sedative-hypnotics | 8 (2.6) | ||
| Other drugs | 9 (2.9) | ||
| Any drugs | 154 (49.8) | ||
| Alcohol | 158 (51.1) | ||
| Smoked cigarettes regularly in last month (N=309) | 128 (43.0) | ||
| Urine substance test positive (N=247) | |||
| Cannabis | 51 (20.7) | ||
| Cocaine | 24 (9.7) | ||
| Amphetamine | 4 (1.6) | ||
| Methamphetamine | 10 (4.1) | ||
| Opiate | 36 (14.6) | ||
| Cannabis/cocaine/amphetamine/methamphetamine | 68 (27.5) | ||
| RISKY BEHAVIORS | |||
| Risky behavior(s) (of 13 specific behaviors): (N=303) | |||
| Lifetime | 5.7 (2.8) | 6 (0-13) | 295 (97.4) |
| Last month | 1.1 (1.2) | 1 (0-5) | 187 (61.7) |
| READINESS FOR CHANGE | |||
| URICA readiness for change score (1-5 scale; 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree): (N=261) |
|||
| Precontemplation (8 items) | 2.1 (0.6) | 2.0 (1.0-4.1) | |
| Contemplation (8 items) | 4.2 (0.5) | 4.3 (1.1-5.0) | |
| Action (8 items) | 4.1 (0.9) | 4.0 (1.0-14.6) | |
| Maintenance (8 items) | 3.3 (0.7) | 3.4 (1.3-5.0) | |
| Total (32 items) | 9.5 (1.9) | 9.5 (1.9-20.6) | |
| SATISFACTION WITH QUALITY OF LIFE | |||
| (1-10 scale; 1=worst to 10=best) in last month: | |||
| Work life (N=204) | 5.2 (3.7) | 5 (0-10) | |
| Home life (N=289) | 6.4 (3.0) | 7 (0-10) | |
| Social leisure (N=288) | 5.3 (3.4) | 5 (0-10) | |
| Personal leisure (N=288) | 5.8 (3.2) | 6 (0-10) | |
| Close relationships (N=287) | 6.4 (3.3) | 7 (0-10) | |
| Sex life (N=275) | 4.5 (3.8) | 5 (0-10) | |
| Average of above (N=290) | 5.6 (2.6) | 5.7 (0-100 | |
| SOCIAL SUPPORT | |||
| Number of social supports (N=299) | 5.6 (8.8) | 3 (0-80) | |
| Social support score (11 items, 1-10 scale, 10=most) (N=290) | 7.5 (3.0) | 8.7 (0-17.7) | |
| LIFE EVENTS IN LAST 6 MONTHS (N=296-298) | |||
| Loss of job/income | 78 (26.3) | ||
| Moved | 66 (22.2) | ||
| Romantic breakup | 38 (12.8) | ||
| Friend breakup | 40 (13.4) | ||
| Marital separation | 78 (26.2) | ||
| Car broke down | 55 (18.5) | ||
| Robbed | 12 (4.0) | ||
| Mugged | 8 (2.7) | ||
| Had bad debts | 60 (20.2) | ||
| Ill or injured | 147 (49.3) | ||
| Legal problems | 33 (11.1) | ||
| Household illness/injury | 58 (19.6) | ||
| Household death | 10 (3.4) | ||
| Family/friend death | 90 (30.3) | ||
| Pressure to house guest | 37 (12.5) | ||
| Summary of life events (N=298) | 2.9 (2.3%) | 2 (0-13) | 255 (85.6) |
| COPING in last month (N=289) | |||
| 0-10 scale (0=none,10=most): | |||
| Engaging in activities | 4.0 (3.7) | 4 (0-10) | |
| Problem solving and seeking information | 6.0 (3.6) | 7 (0-10) | |
| Moral support from family/friends | 4.8 (4.0) | 5 (0-10) | |
| Denial/nonresponse | 3.0 (3.8) | 0 (0-10) | |
| Religion/faith/spirituality | 6.4 (3.9) | 8 (0-10) | |
| Alcohol/drugs | 1.8 (3.1) | 0 (0-10) | |
| Humor | 5.1 (3.9) | 5 (0-10) | |
| Helping others | 5.2 (3.8) | 5 (0-10) | |
| Average # of positive coping methods (N=280) | 5.2 (2.7) | 5.5 (0-10) | |
| Average # of negative coping methods (N=280) | 2.4 (2.8) | 1 (0-10) | |
| # of coping methods (sum of positive and negative) (N=280) | 2.8 (3.2) | 2.8 (-5-10) | |