title: Hepatitis C prevalence in Denmark -an estimate based on multiple national registers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A national survey for chronic hepatitis C has not been performed in Denmark and the prevalence is unknown. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C from public registers and the proportion of these patients who received specialized healthcare.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C were identified from four national registers: a laboratory register, the Hospital Discharge Register, a clinical database of chronic viral hepatitis and the Register of Communicable Diseases. The total population diagnosed with hepatitis C was estimated by capture-recapture analysis. The population with undiagnosed hepatitis C was derived from the national register of drug users by comparing diagnosed and tested persons.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 6,935 patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C were identified in the four registers and the estimated population diagnosed with the disease was 9,166 persons (95% C.I. interval 8,973 - 9,877), corresponding to 0.21% (95% CI 0.21%-0.23%) of the Danish population over 15 years of age. The prevalence was highest among persons 40-49 years old (0.39%) and males (0.28%). It was estimated that 40% of the diagnosed patients lived in the capital region, and 33.5% had attended specialised healthcare. It was estimated that 46% of hepatitis C patients had not been diagnosed and the total population with chronic hepatitis C in Denmark was 16,888 (95% C.I. 16,474-18,287), corresponding to 0.38% (95% CI 0.37-0.42) of the population over 15 years of age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The estimated prevalence of chronic hepatitis C in Denmark was 0.38%. Less than half of the patients with chronic hepatitis C in Denmark have been identified and among these patients, one in three has attended specialised care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Odense University Hospital, Odense C 29 5000, Denmark. peer.christensen@dadlnet.dk
authors.forename: Peer Brehm
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jepsen
authors.forename: Lars Haukali
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Omland
authors.forename: Søren Andreas
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Just
authors.forename: Henrik Bygum
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Krarup
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weis
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Obel
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cowan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult