title: Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Infection Among Immigrants in a Primary Care Clinic: A Case for Granular Ethnicity and Language Data Collection.
abstract: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is highly prevalent worldwide and is most often diagnosed through screening efforts. In order to identify the specific ethnic groups at greatest risk, it is necessary to go beyond traditional categories. We conducted a retrospective case series in a primary care clinic serving non-English speaking immigrants to determine the prevalence of HBV among patients of various primary spoken languages (used as a proxy for ethnicity). Among the 1378 patients, the overall prevalence of current infection was 8%. HBV infection was markedly higher among Somali, Oromo and Khmer speakerscompared to other groups. This study illustrates the use of granular language data in describing the serologic profiles of HBV infection among non-English speaking patients in primary care setting. The variations in prevalence by language have implications for public health HBV screening efforts, in addition to suggesting potential risk factors for transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center, 325 Ninth Avenue, Box 359780, Seattle, WA, 98104, USA. terasaki@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Genji
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6513-6633
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Terasaki
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Residency Program, University of Washington, 1959 Ne Pacific Street, Box 356421, Seattle, WA, 98195-6421, USA.
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Health Sciences, University of Washington, Health Sciences B224, Box 357475, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Christy M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: McKinney
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center, 325 Ninthavenue, Box 359780, Seattle, WA, 98104, USA.
authors.forename: Mahri Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Haider
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
keywords: Ethnicity; Hepatitis B infection; Immigrant; Language; Prevalence; Refugee