Abstract:
Background
Most patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infections are asymptomatic. Baseline
characteristics such as age, sex, body mass index, hepatitis e antigen (HBeAg) seropositivity,
hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level and other clinical parameters can help predict the natural
course of HBV infection including patient response to treatment.
Objective: This study aimed to describe baseline clinical characteristics of patients
diagnosed with HBV infection at Jimma Medical Center (JMC), Ethiopia.
Method: Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on patients diagnosed with
HBV infection at Hepatitis Clinic of JMC during the period of December 2021 to December
2022. Baseline sociodemographic, diagnostic, and clinical data were electronically collected
using REDCap. All participants enrolled at the clinic during the specified period were
included in this study. Mean, mode, media, and SD of study participants’ baseline
characteristics were performed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 25.
Result: A total of 467 patients were included in the study; 52.7% and 14.1% were male
patients and pregnant women respectively. Majority of them (80.1%, 374) were asymptomatic
at baseline. The Mean age of the study participants was 31.6 years (SD=9.8). About 67%
(310) of the participants were previously diagnosed with HBV while only 5.4% were on
antiviral therapy before their enrollment to the care. Mean baseline BMI was 21.59
(SD=3.7). The median of HBV DNA levels was 797 IU/ml (IQR=5970). Overall, 24.4% of the
patients had HBV DNA level of > 20,000 IU/ml at baseline while 9.4% had APRI score of
>2.
Conclusion: A significant proportion of the patients have already known their HBV infection
before enrollment and had a clear indication for antiviral treatment but only small
proportion received it. However, the fact that the large majority were asymptomatic makes
early diagnosis and treatment difficult. This calls for proactive approach to enhance early
case detection and therapy in country like Ethiopia where HBV prevalence is high.
