title: Concordance between self-reported and actual hepatitis C virus infection status in a cohort of people who inject drugs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Accurate knowledge of individual hepatitis C virus (HCV) status is an important component of comprehensive health services for people who inject drugs (PWID). In this paper we compare the perceived HCV status of PWID in a longitudinal cohort study with their actual status, as verified by HCV-RNA testing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants who consented to blood testing at first follow up (352/688) were included. Self-reported HCV status (positive/negative/don't know), was compared with serology test results for participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In comparing self-report with HCV-RNA results, 274 of 352 participants had valid serology and self-report results; of these, 220 (80%) accurately reported their HCV status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study suggest that large proportions of PWID know their true HCV infection status, but the discordant participants represent potential HCV infection risks. Despite the majority of participants displaying concordance, this study reinforces the need for regular blood testing and the giving of accurate, practical and comprehensive HCV result information.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Population Health, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia. djokay@burnet.edu.au
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Keefe
authors.forename: Campbell
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aitken
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Higgs
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dietze
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016174:Hepacivirus; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D057566:Self Report / Q000592:standards*; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*