Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Survey of Asian Patients with Hepatitis B Infection: Limited Knowledge of Transmission and Screening of Family Members

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Asian American families are disproportionately affected by Hepatitis B (HBV) infection. We aimed to assess the extent of screening family members of Asian patients with known HBV infection as well as patients’ knowledge of HBV disease. A cross-sectional survey of established Asian patients with HBV-infection was performed at a university liver clinic. Outcome measures included the percentage of family members whose HBV serostatus was unknown and the percentage of patients who were able to correctly identify modes of transmission. A total of 803 US-based family members were identified by 58 patients. Patients did not know the HBV serostatus of 50 % of their family members and 28 % of their immediate family members. Fifty percent of participants did not know how they had acquired HBV or stated unlikely transmission modes. Though nationwide vaccination campaigns target this underrepresented population, screening family members of Asian patients with HBV remains a challenge.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. CDC. Viral Hepatitis Registry. 2008.

  2. Lok AS. Chronic hepatitis B. N Engl J Med. 2002;346(22):1682–3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Pollack H, Wan K, Ramos R, et al. Screening for chronic hepatitis B among Asian/Pacific Islander populations—New York City, 2005. MMWR. 2006;55:505–9.

    Google Scholar 

  4. CDC. Screening for chronic hepatitis B among Asian/Pacific Islander populations–New York City, 2005. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2006;55(18):505–9.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hann HW, Hann RS, Maddrey WC. Hepatitis B virus infection in 6,130 unvaccinated Korean–Americans surveyed between 1988 and 1990. Am J Gastroenterol. 2007;102(4):767–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Stevens CE, Toy PT, Tong MJ, Taylor PE, Vyas GN, Nair PV, et al. Perinatal hepatitis B virus transmission in the United States. Prevention by passive-active immunization. JAMA. 1985;253(12):1740–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Alazawi W, Foster GR. Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2008;21(5):508–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Ganem D, Prince AM. Hepatitis B virus infection–natural history and clinical consequences. N Engl J Med. 2004;350(11):1118–29.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Lai CJ, Nguyen TT, Hwang J, Stewart SL, Kwan A, McPhee SJ. Provider knowledge and practice regarding hepatitis B screening in Chinese-speaking patients. J Cancer Educ. 2007;22(1):37–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. San Francisco Resolution 650–06. Mandating that universal hepatitis B screening and vaccination is available for Asian Pacific Islander and high risk residents. San Francisco; 2006.

  11. Bailey MB, Shiau R, Zola J, Fernyak SE, Fang T, So SK, et al. San Francisco hep B free: a grassroots community coalition to prevent hepatitis B and liver cancer. J Community Health. 2011;36(4):538–51.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Hu KQ, Pan CQ, Goodwin D. Barriers to screening for hepatitis B virus infection in Asian Americans. Dig Dis Sci. 2011;56(11):3163–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Nguyen TT, McPhee SJ, Stewart S, Gildengorin G, Zhang L, Wong C, et al. Factors associated with hepatitis B testing among Vietnamese Americans. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;25(7):694–700.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Stevens CE, Taylor PE, Tong MJ, et al. Prevention of perinatal hepatitis B virus infection with hepatitis B immunoglobulin and hepatitis B vaccine. In: Zuckerman A, editor. Viral hepatitis and liver disease. Bew York: Wiley; 1988. p. 982–8.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Ward JW. Time for renewed commitment to viral hepatitis prevention. Am J Public Health. 2008;98(5):779–81.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. CDC. Unpublished data. 2007.

  17. Poon AF, Brouwer KC, Strathdee SA, Firestone-Cruz M, Lozada RM, Pond SL, et al. Parsing social network survey data from hidden populations using stochastic context-free grammars. PLoS ONE. 2009;4(9):e6777.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Claassen L, Henneman L, Janssens AC, Wijdenes-Pijl M, Qureshi N, Walter FM, et al. Using family history information to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent diseases; a discussion of the evidence. BMC Public Health. 2010;10:248.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Hutton DW, Tan D, So SK, Brandeau ML. Cost-effectiveness of screening and vaccinating Asian and Pacific Islander adults for hepatitis B. Ann Intern Med. 2007;147(7):460–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Cohen C, Holmberg SD, McMahon BJ, Block JM, Brosgart CL, Gish RG, et al. Is chronic hepatitis B being undertreated in the United States? J Viral Hepat. 2011;18(6):377–83.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Hu K-Q. Hepatitis B virus infection in Asian and Pacific Islander Americans: how can we do better for this special population? Am J Gastroenterol. 2008;103:1824–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Lin SY, Chang ET, So SK. Why we should routinely screen Asian American adults for hepatitis B: a cross-sectional study of Asians in California. Hepatology. 2007;46(4):1034–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Tran TT, Ocampo LH Jr. The patient, the doctor, and the system: Underdiagnosis and undertreatment of hepatitis B. Hepatology. 2012;56(2):776–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

All authors have nothing to disclose. The study is supported in part by Liver Center Grant P30 DK26743. All authors are members of the Hep B Free Campaign in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, Room S-380, San Francisco, CA, 94143-0654, USA

    Tara Vijayan

  2. School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Patricia Zheng & Yi-Wen Chen

  3. School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Cynthia Nguyen

  4. Division of Gastroenterology, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0538, Room S-357, San Francisco, CA, 94143-0538, USA

    Abigail M. Brown & Marion G. Peters

Authors
  1. Tara Vijayan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patricia Zheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cynthia Nguyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Abigail M. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yi-Wen Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Marion G. Peters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Tara Vijayan or Marion G. Peters.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vijayan, T., Zheng, P., Nguyen, C. et al. Survey of Asian Patients with Hepatitis B Infection: Limited Knowledge of Transmission and Screening of Family Members. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 112–117 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9883-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9883-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation