title: Missed opportunities for hepatitis C testing in opioid treatment programs.
abstract: HCV has surpassed HIV as a cause of death in the United States and is particularly prevalent among injection drug users. I examined the availability of on-site HCV testing in a nationally representative sample of opioid treatment programs. Nearly 68% of these programs had the staff required for HCV testing, but only 34% offered on-site testing. Availability of on-site testing increased only slightly with the proportion of injection drug users among clients. The limited HCV testing services in opioid treatment programs is a key challenge to reducing HCV in the US population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Jemima A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Frimpong
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000628:therapy*; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid