Table 2.
Baseline clinical characteristics among chronic hepatitis C-infected patients at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman (N = 603)
| Characteristics | n (%) |
|---|---|
| Symptoms*† | |
| Dyspepsia | 59 (62.8) |
| Fatigue | 57 (60.6) |
| Abdominal pain | 55 (58.5) |
| Jaundice | 25 (26.6) |
| Nausea and vomiting | 21 (22.3) |
| Viral load in IU/mL | |
| <800,000 | 335 (55.6) |
| ≥800,000 | 268 (44.4) |
| Comorbidities† | |
| HTN | 130 (21.6) |
| DM | 125 (20.7) |
| Anaemia‡ | 116 (19.2) |
| Renal impairment | 82 (13.6) |
| Cardiac conditions | 79 (13.1) |
| Dyslipidaemia | 67 (11.1) |
| Psychological disorders | 45 (7.5) |
| Autoimmune diseases | 42 (7.0) |
| Sickle cell disease | 40 (6.6) |
| Malignancies | 35 (5.8)§ |
| Neutropaenia¶ | 33 (5.5) |
| Thalassaemia major | 25 (4.1) |
| Haemophilia | 5 (0.8) |
| Coinfections | |
| Hepatitis B// | 213 (39.0) |
| HIV** | 10 (2.0) |
HTN = hypertension; DM = diabetes mellitus.
*
Total dataset for this variable was 94 as 509 asymptomatic patients were excluded.
†
Percentages for these variables add up to more than 100% as some patients may have reported multiple symptoms/comorbidities.
‡
Defined as a haemoglobin level of <10 mg/dL.
§
Of these, six cases had lymphoma.
¶
Defined as an absolute neutrophil count of <1,000.
//
Out of 546 patients who underwent hepatitis B core antibody testing.
**
Out of 494 patients who underwent HIV testing.