Prevalence and predictors of HCV infection among hospitalized psychiatric patients in Poland.

Authors

Krzysztof Tomasiewicz, Piotr Gałecki, Jerzy Jaroszewicz, Jolanta Opoka, Małgorzata Pawłowska, Anna Piekarska, Krzysztof Simon, Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk, Magdalena Władysiuk, Tomasz Prycel, Sławomir Ros, Dominik Obierzyński, Waldemar Halota, Robert Flisiak

Published in

Frontiers in psychiatry. Volume 17. Pages 1835310. Epub Jul 13, 2026.

Abstract

Patients with mental disorders are at increased risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, yet the prevalence of HCV among patients in Polish psychiatric ward remains unknown.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Poland from 2021 to 2023 in psychiatric wards. Adults recently hospitalized with at least one current mental health condition were eligible and 12-897 individuals were tested for anti HCV antibodies. Patients with confirmed active HCV infection (subsequent nucleic acid testing) were offered treatment.
Of the 12,897 individuals who constituted the sample, 64% were male, and the median age was 45 years (interquartile range: 35-58 years). Among those subjects, 226 patients (representing 1.8% of the total) exhibited a positive HCV antibody test result, and 172 of these patients had active HCV infection (the prevalence of 1.3%). Multivariate analysis identified five risk factors for HCV infection within the investigated population: intravenous drug use (odds ratio [OR] = 9.40; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.12-14.44; p<0.001), diagnosed and treated liver disease (OR = 6.17; 95% CI: 4.10-9.26; p < 0.001); blood transfusions prior to 1992 (OR = 2.61; 95% CI: 1.29-5.28; p=0.008), diagnosis of mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance abuse (OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.34-2.91; p=0.001) and previous incarceration (OR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.08-2.43, p=0.018).
High prevalence of HCV infection in patients with mental health disorders and specifically in patients who used intravenous drugs suggests the importance of screening for HCV in this vulnerable population.

PMID:
42517141
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 28 Jul 2026.

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