Mobile outreach strategies for screening hepatitis and HIV in high-risk populations.
OBJECTIVE
To screen, counsel and offer hepatitis A and B vaccination for subjects at high risk for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV, and determine any relationship between risk factors and HCV positivity.


METHODS
A descriptive correlational design. We correlated risk factors and HCV positivity and measured vaccination completion rates. Two hundred and two unduplicated subjects in 4 locations in Western Massachusetts: a walk in substance abuse clinic, a homeless shelter, a county jail, and a community corrections facility.


METHODS
Demographic data and a standard HCV risk- screening survey were used.


RESULTS
Significantly higher rates of HCV were found in subjects who were currently using injection drugs (83.3% HCV positive, χ2(1) = 20.85, p<.001), who had a history of sharing needles for drug use (75% HCV positive χ(2) (1)=83.20, p<.001), or a history of receiving treatment for drug abuse/alcoholism (38.4% HCV positive χ2(1) = 12.14, p<.001). Vaccination completion ranged by setting between 18% and 38%.


CONCLUSIONS
Targeted outreach to hard to reach groups is effective in providing access for those at high risk for HIV and HCV infection. A mobile outreach strategy can focus needed resources for a variety of groups in a community.
School of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst 01003, USA. donna@acad.umass.edu
Donna M
DM
Zucker
Jeungok
J
Choi
Emily R
ER
Gallagher
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D008952:Mobile Health Units; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D011637:Public Health Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult