Acceptability of Rapid Point-of-Care Hepatitis C Tests Among People Who Inject Drugs and Utilize Syringe-Exchange Programs

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2016 Apr 6;3(2):ofw075. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofw075. eCollection 2016 Mar.

Abstract

People who inject drugs may benefit from point-of-care hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing offered at syringe exchanges. We sought to understand whether this population would be willing to undergo rapid HCV testing. We found that there was broad support for rapid HCV testing, especially among younger people who inject drugs with high perceived risk.

Keywords: hepatitis C screening; people who inject drugs; rapid diagnostics; syringe exchange programs.