Influencing Factors of Healthcare-Seeking Behaviors in Taiwanese Patients With Hepatitis C

Abstract

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.

Perceived risk for severe outcomes and drinking status among drug users with HIV and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

“…The nuanced nature of these findings is not surprising given conflicting findings on the importance of severity perceptions to health behaviors in prior HIV (Aversa & Kimberlin, 1996; Gao et al, 2000; Holstad et al, 2006) and HCV (Castera et al, 2006a; Chen et al, 2013; Lu et al, 2010) studies. However, the associations between perceived risk for serious outcomes and drinking level were significant for both HIV- and HCV- infected samples, suggesting that this perception is relevant to drinking in these samples, despite a recent review claiming that severity may not be a useful component of the Health Belief Model (Carpenter, 2010).…”

“…Although perceived severity of hepatic disease did not predict engagement in antiviral therapy among Hepatitis B and C patients in one study (Chen, Liu, & Perng, 2013), other studies found perceived HCV severity to relate to clinic retention (Lu, Huang, & Chu, 2010) and lifestyle changes (e.g., changes in diet and sexual behavior) (Castera, Constant, Bernard, de Ledinghen, & Couzigou, 2006a) among individuals with HCV. The associations between perceived HCV severity and lifestyle changes in particular suggests that perceived HCV severity may also be useful in predicting heavy drinking among HCV patients.…”