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Abstract Details
Educating Primary Care Providers and Associate Care Providers About Hepatitis C Screening of Baby Boomers: a Multi-practice Study
J Cancer Educ. 2020 Jun 25. doi: 10.1007/s13187-020-01805-2. Online ahead of print.
Bertha E Flores1, Andrea A Fernandez1, Chen-Pin Wang23, Raudel Bobadilla3, Ludivina Hernandez3, Mamta K Jain4, Barbara J Turner5
Author information
1School of Nursing, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78229-3900, USA.
2Population Health, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
3Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH), UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
4UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
5Gehr Center for Health Systems Science and Innovation, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 2020 Zonal Dr IRD 322, Los Angeles, CA, 91202, USA. barbara.turner@med.usc.edu.
Abstract
Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) increases the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite higher prevalence of HCV in persons born 1945-1965 (baby boomer), screening has not been widely adopted. Both primary care providers (PCPs) and associate care providers (ACPs) need to be educated about the rationale and methods to screen for HCV. In five Federally Qualified Health Centers serving low-income Hispanic communities, PCPs and ACPs attended a 50-min training lecture about HCV epidemiology, screening methods, and evaluation. Using a 12-item questionnaire, knowledge and attitudes were compared for PCPs and ACPs at baseline (pre-test) and following training (post-test). A higher proportion of PCPs correctly answered 3 of 6 knowledge questions on both pre-test and post-test but ACPs' showed more improvement in knowledge (all P < 0.05). ACPs had more favorable attitudes about linking patients to care on pre- and post-tests than PCPs, and ACPs' attitudes improved on all 6 items versus 4 for PCPs. Both PCPs and ACPs improved knowledge and attitudes after training about HCV screening but ACPs had more favorable attitudes than PCPs. Engaging the entire primary care practice team in learning about HCV screening promotes knowledge and attitudes necessary for successful implementation.