Improving Knowledge of Hepatitis C Screening Guidelines Among a Population of Family Medicine Residents

Authors' Affiliations

Dr. Curry Jones, Dr. Chris Garner, and Dr. Amanda Stoltz, Department of Family Medicine, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Location

WhiteTop Mountain Room 225

Start Date

4-5-2018 8:00 AM

End Date

4-5-2018 12:00 PM

Poster Number

118

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Amanda Stoltz

Faculty Sponsor's Department

Department of Family Medicine, Quillen College of Medicine

Classification of First Author

Medical Resident or Clinical Fellow

Type

Poster: Competitive

Project's Category

Biomedical and Health Sciences

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Hepatitis C is the most common chronic bloodbourne infection in the United States, with an estimated prevalence of 2.7 million. The total cost of care for this patient population was estimated to be $6.5 billion in 2013. Since 1998, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have recommended hepatitis C screening for specific high risk populations, but until recently there was no recommendation for age-based screening. The recent advent of new, more efficacious therapies for hepatitis C have made early identification significantly more important. Consequently, the CDC updated its recommendations in 2012 based on recent evidence to include one-time screening for all individuals born between 1945 and 1965. In 2013, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) also incorporated this recommendation into their hepatitis C screening guidelines. In spite of this, there is some debate in the medical community regarding cohort screening for hepatitis C, and some data indicates widespread misunderstanding of current screening recommendations among primary care providers. The purpose of this project was to evaluate current knowledge and understanding of hepatitis C screening guidelines among a group of family medicine residents at East Tennessee State University, and to improve their knowledge in order to promote more appropriate screening practices in their patient population. To accomplish this, 13 question surveys were administered to residents to assess their current knowledge. Following these surveys, residents attended an education session covering current recommendations from the CDC and USPSTF. The 13 question survey was administered again in the post-intervention period. A t-test revealed that post-intervention survey scores increased significantly on 8 out of 13 questions. The intervention was successful at improving knowledge of current hepatitis C screening recommendations in the target population. Future research should be directed at broadening the intervention to include a variety of other providers, and at assessing the impact on execution of screening in the patient population, particularly regarding application to people born in the specified birth cohort.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Apr 5th, 8:00 AM Apr 5th, 12:00 PM

Improving Knowledge of Hepatitis C Screening Guidelines Among a Population of Family Medicine Residents

WhiteTop Mountain Room 225

Hepatitis C is the most common chronic bloodbourne infection in the United States, with an estimated prevalence of 2.7 million. The total cost of care for this patient population was estimated to be $6.5 billion in 2013. Since 1998, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have recommended hepatitis C screening for specific high risk populations, but until recently there was no recommendation for age-based screening. The recent advent of new, more efficacious therapies for hepatitis C have made early identification significantly more important. Consequently, the CDC updated its recommendations in 2012 based on recent evidence to include one-time screening for all individuals born between 1945 and 1965. In 2013, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) also incorporated this recommendation into their hepatitis C screening guidelines. In spite of this, there is some debate in the medical community regarding cohort screening for hepatitis C, and some data indicates widespread misunderstanding of current screening recommendations among primary care providers. The purpose of this project was to evaluate current knowledge and understanding of hepatitis C screening guidelines among a group of family medicine residents at East Tennessee State University, and to improve their knowledge in order to promote more appropriate screening practices in their patient population. To accomplish this, 13 question surveys were administered to residents to assess their current knowledge. Following these surveys, residents attended an education session covering current recommendations from the CDC and USPSTF. The 13 question survey was administered again in the post-intervention period. A t-test revealed that post-intervention survey scores increased significantly on 8 out of 13 questions. The intervention was successful at improving knowledge of current hepatitis C screening recommendations in the target population. Future research should be directed at broadening the intervention to include a variety of other providers, and at assessing the impact on execution of screening in the patient population, particularly regarding application to people born in the specified birth cohort.