Practice, Knowledge, and Barriers for Screening of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Among High-Risk Chinese Patients

Publication date: Available online 19 April 2017 Source:Annals of Global Health Author(s): Kerui Xu, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Fedja A. Rochling, Jianjun Zhang, Paraskevi A. Farazi, Hongyan Peng, Hongmei Wang, Jiangtao Luo Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the leading causes of cancer deaths in China. Considering its poor prognosis when diagnosed late, Chinese guidelines recommend biannual screening for HCC with abdominal ultrasound and serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) test for high-risk populations. Objectives To investigate the practice, knowledge, and self-perceived barriers for HCC screening among high-risk hospital patients in China. Methods An interview-based questionnaire was conducted among Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B and/or chronic hepatitis C infection from outpatient clinics at 2 tertiary medical institutions in Shanghai and Wuhan, China. Findings Among 352 participating patients, 50.0% had routine screening, 23.3% had irregular screening, and 26.7% had incomplete or no screening. Significant determinants for screening included higher level of education, underlying liver cirrhosis, a family history of HCC, and better knowledge concerning viral hepatitis, HCC, and HCC screening guidelines. Moreover, factors associated with better knowledge were younger age, female gender, urban residency, education level of college or above, annual household income of greater than 150,000 RMB, and longer duration of hepatitis infection. The 3 m...
Source: Annals of Global Health - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research