Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of HCV negative and positive individuals in the overall study population and the propensity score (PS)-matched dataset, from the British Columbia Hepatitis Testers Cohort 1990–2015
| Covariate | Overall study population | PS-matched dataset* | ||||
| HCV negative (n=785 451) |
HCV positive (n=61 570) | SMD | HCV negative (n=58 592) |
HCV positive (n=58 592) | SMD | |
| Sex (%) | 0.413 | 0.014 | ||||
| Female | 434 731 (55.3) | 21 694 (35.2) | 21 054 (35.9) | 20 665 (35.3) | ||
| Male | 350 720 (44.7) | 39 876 (64.8) | 37 927 (64.7) | 37 538 (64.1) | ||
| Age at HCV diagnosis (%) | 0.439 | 0.037 | ||||
| <25 | 122 524 (15.6) | 4409 (7.2) | 4485 (7.7) | 4326 (7.4) | ||
| 25–34 | 196 472 (25.0) | 13 485 (21.9) | 12 109 (20.7) | 12 749 (21.8) | ||
| 35–44 | 172 656 (22.0) | 20 088 (32.6) | 18 302 (31.2) | 18 674 (31.9) | ||
| 45–54 | 125 087 (15.9) | 15 300 (24.8) | 15 032 (25.7) | 14 604 (24.9) | ||
| ≥55 | 168 712 (21.5) | 8288 (13.5) | 8664 (14.8) | 8239 (14.1) | ||
| Follow-up duration, mean years (SD) | 7.50 (5.4) | 11.59 (6.4) | 0.687 | 11.24 (5.97) | 11.42 (6.42) | 0.029 |
| Ethnicity (%) | 0.360 | 0.241 | ||||
| Other† | 656 110 (83.5) | 58 137 (94.4) | 51 401 (87.7) | 55 197 (94.2) | ||
| East Asian | 78 135 (9.9) | 1618 (2.6) | 4465 (7.6) | 1602 (2.7) | ||
| South Asian | 51 206 (6.5) | 1815 (2.9) | 2726 (4.7) | 1793 (3.1) | ||
| Material DQ (%) | 0.353 | 0.009 | ||||
| Q1 (most privileged) | 175 410 (22.3) | 8242 (13.4) | 8004 (13.7) | 8052 (13.7) | ||
| Q2 | 154 413 (19.7) | 9764 (15.9) | 9357 (16.0) | 9445 (16.1) | ||
| Q3 | 157 151 (20.0) | 10 946 (17.8) | 10 443 (17.8) | 10 567 (18.0) | ||
| Q4 | 157 680 (20.1) | 14 117 (22.9) | 13 491 (23.0) | 13 432 (22.9) | ||
| Q5 (most deprived) | 140 797 (17.9) | 18 501 (30.0) | 17 297 (29.5) | 17 096 (29.2) | ||
| Social DQ (%) | 0.362 | 0.009 | ||||
| Q1 (most privileged) | 141 254 (18.0) | 6321 (10.3) | 6303 (10.8) | 6236 (10.6) | ||
| Q2 | 139 115 (17.7) | 7726 (12.5) | 7538 (12.9) | 7560 (12.9) | ||
| Q3 | 143 967 (18.3) | 10 167 (16.5) | 9720 (16.6) | 9826 (16.8) | ||
| Q4 | 164 587 (21.0) | 13 022 (21.1) | 12 387 (21.1) | 12 503 (21.3) | ||
| Q5 (most deprived) | 196 528 (25.0) | 24 334 (39.5) | 22 644 (38.6) | 22 467 (38.3) | ||
| HBV infection (%) | 10 781 (1.4) | 947 (1.5) | 0.014 | 744 (1.3) | 821 (1.4) | 0.011 |
| HIV infection (%) | 1596 (0.2) | 1676 (2.7) | 0.211 | 917 (1.6) | 939 (1.6) | 0.003 |
| Cirrhosis (%) | 4919 (0.6) | 877 (1.4) | 0.079 | 514 (0.9) | 817 (1.4) | 0.049 |
| CKD (%) | 14 995 (1.9) | 532 (0.9) | 0.089 | 801 (1.4) | 497 (0.8) | 0.050 |
| ESRD (%) | 5490 (0.7) | 356 (0.6) | 0.015 | 405 (0.7) | 304 (0.5) | 0.022 |
| IHD (%) | 36 799 (4.7) | 1572 (2.6) | 0.114 | 2430 (4.1) | 1518 (2.6) | 0.086 |
| Hypertension (%) | 105 284 (13.4) | 4224 (6.9) | 0.218 | 6359 (10.9) | 4090 (7.0) | 0.136 |
| Statin use (%) | 52 698 (6.7) | 1170 (1.9) | 0.239 | 3149 (5.4) | 1142 (1.9) | 0.183 |
| Mood and anxiety disorder (%) | 270 332 (34.4) | 23 440 (38.1) | 0.076 | 22 159 (37.8) | 21 594 (36.9) | 0.020 |
| Obesity (%) | 19 043 (2.4) | 967 (1.6) | 0.061 | 990 (1.7) | 950 (1.6) | 0.005 |
| Alcohol use disorder (%) | 30 368 (3.9) | 10 286 (16.7) | 0.432 | 8943 (15.3) | 8458 (14.4) | 0.023 |
| Injection drug use (%) | 18 789 (2.4) | 11 172 (18.1) | 0.537 | 8780 (15.0) | 8529 (14.6) | 0.012 |
*The propensity score (PS)-matched dataset was created by matching individuals with HCV infection with individuals without infection with a caliper of 0.1 at a 1:1 ratio without replacement. PS was estimated based on age at HCV diagnosis, duration of follow-up, sex, material/social deprivation quintiles, HBV/HIV infection, mood and anxiety disorders, obesity, alcohol use disorder and injection drug use.
†Other included white, Indigenous, black, Latin American, Pacific Islander, Central/West Asian, Filipino, Southeast Asian and other residents of British Columbia.
CKD, chronic kidney disease; DQ, deprivation quintiles; ESRD, end-stage renal disease; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; IHD, ischemic heart disease; PS, propensity scores; Q, quintile; SD, standard deviation; SMD, standardized mean difference.