The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence the frequency of hospital clinic visits for hepatitis C patients in Taiwan and identify data related to healthcare-seeking behaviors of patients by using a developed questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model. Consistent clinic visits for follow-up and treatment are required of the hepatitis C patient to be compliant with therapy guidelines. Recent studies targeted only Western communities in which hepatitis C is nonepidemic, unlike hepatitis C virus-endemic regions of Taiwan where patients may exhibit 10-20 times higher seroprevalence. Influences on hospital clinic visit attendance were identified as educational level, income, and aspartate aminotransferase level at diagnosis. Perceived benefits from and barriers to action were similar among the 390 evaluable subjects at various frequencies of hospital clinic visits (both p > .05); however, subjects who visited the hospital clinic between 1 and 6 months exhibited significantly higher scores of perceived susceptibility to disease and severity of disease than those who visited the hospital clinic at 7-9 months or less often (all p ≤ .001). Findings lay the foundation for future studies to address strategies to increase compliance with treatment regimens for Taiwanese patients with hepatitis C.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.