Prevalence and knowledge of hepatitis C in a middle-aged population, Dunedin, New Zealand

Table 1 Relationship between general hepatitis knowledge scores and population demographics

Demographic	Unadjusted	Adjusted1
Sex	8.5 (4.6-12.4)a	5.4 (1.4-9.4)a
Qualification level	6.5 (4.6-8.4)a	5.0 (3.1-6.9)a
Occupation sector	7.1 (4.9-9.3)a	4.8 (2.4-7.3)a
Age	-0.6 (-2.5-1.2)	-0.1 (-2.1-1.8)
SES	-0.9 (-1.5-1.4)	0.2 (-1.3-1.7)

¹Adjusted for the other four demographic variables.

^aP < 0.0005, unadjusted vs adjusted.

Table 2 Recognition of acute or chronic hepatitis symptoms n = 427

Symptoms of an acute/chronic hepatitis infection	Recognised
	%	95%CI
Fatigue	82.4	78.5-85.7
Nausea	67.9	63.3-72.2
Loss of appetite	66.3	61.7-70.6
Jaundice	63.7	59.0-68.1
Abdominal pain	57.1	52.4-61.8
Skin irritations	56.0	51.2-60.6
Vomiting	33.0	28.7-37.6
Fever	32.3	28.1-36.9
Don’t Know	14.0	11.1-17.1
Asymptomatic	7.0	4.9-9.9

Table 3 Average liver function test results

Mean LFT ± SD	HCV positive	HCV negative	Total	Reference range
AST	50.7 ± 37.3	25.8 ± 24.3	26.7 ± 25.3	0-45 U/L
ALT	54.1 ± 40.7	30.8 ± 72.2	31.7 ± 71.4	< 45 U/L
GGT	76.7 ± 141.1	41.7 ± 62.4	42.9 ± 67.1	0-60 U/L

LFTs: Liver function tests; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; ALT: Alanine transaminase; AST: Aspartate transaminase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase.