{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,22]],"date-time":"2025-02-22T00:14:43Z","timestamp":1740183283590,"version":"3.37.3"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Maad Rayan Publishing Company","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":["www.aimjournal.ir"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Arch Iran Med"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n            <jats:bold>Background:<\/jats:bold> People who use drugs, particularly injection drug users (IDUs) are known as the major source of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of HCV infection using rapid point-of-care testing and to assess liver fibrosis by non-invasive lab tests among addict populations of Mashhad, Iran. <jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold> In this cross-sectional study, drug users who referred to drug treatment and harm reduction centers of Mashhad were enrolled during March and December 2019. A rapid test kit was used to assess the presence of anti-HCV antibodies and a real-time PCR was performed to confirm the infection. The AST-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score were used to investigate liver fibrosis in patients with positive HCV RNA. A <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> value &lt;0.05 was considered as significant. <jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold> A total of 390 drug users aged 15\u201374 years were assessed. Sixty-four individuals showed positive results for anti-HCV (16.4%), of whom 58 blood samples were available for PCR test. The viremic rate among the latter group was calculated at 84.5% (49\/58); the total viremia prevalence was 12.8% (49\/384). Multivariate analysis revealed that being single (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.040) or divorced\/ widow (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.011) and history of drug injection (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&lt;0.001) and tattoos (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.021) were significantly associated with current HCV infection. Using APRI and FIB-4 indices, significant liver fibrosis was identified in 14.3% and 18.4% of cases, respectively. <jats:bold>Conclusion:<\/jats:bold> HCV infection screening using rapid tests and examining liver fibrosis by non-invasive lab tests appear to be practicable and useful among poor populations in settings such as drug treatment centers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.34172\/aim.2021.14","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,20]],"date-time":"2021-02-20T06:23:32Z","timestamp":1613802212000},"page":"94-100","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34172\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Hepatitis C Rapid Point-of-Care Testing and Laboratory-based Non-invasive Assessment of Liver Fibrosis among Drug Abusers: An Experience from Iran"],"prefix":"10.34172","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9133-5006","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Mohammad Reza","family":"Hedayati-Moghaddam","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Blood Borne Infections Research Center, Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan Branch, Mashhad, Iran"},{"name":"Razavi Khorasan Hepatitis Association (NGO), Mashhad, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6774-7027","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Hossein","family":"Soltanian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Blood Borne Infections Research Center, Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan Branch, Mashhad, Iran"},{"name":"Razavi Khorasan Hepatitis Association (NGO), Mashhad, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Majid","family":"Danaee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Razavi Khorasan Hepatitis Association (NGO), Mashhad, Iran"},{"name":"Social Sciences Research Group, Research Institute of Tourism, Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan Branch, Mashhad, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Seyed Ahmad","family":"Vahedi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan Branch, Mashhad, Iran"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"20123","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,1]]},"container-title":["Archives of Iranian Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.aimjournal.ir\/PDF\/aim-24-94.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/www.aimjournal.ir\/PDF\/aim-24-94.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,20]],"date-time":"2021-02-20T06:23:32Z","timestamp":1613802212000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.aimjournal.ir\/Article\/aim-17396"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,1]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34172\/aim.2021.14","relation":{},"ISSN":["1029-2977","1735-3947"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"1029-2977"},{"type":"electronic","value":"1735-3947"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,1]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Academy of Medical Sciences of the I.R. Iran","name":"journal_owner","label":"Journal Owner"},{"value":"Academy of Medical Sciences of the I.R. Iran","name":"journal_publisher","label":"Journal Publisher"}]}}