Epidemiological and clinical profile of viral hepatitis B and C among adult patients attending Hepatitis clinic at Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

This study aims to establish the epidemiological and clinical Profile of viral hepatitis B and C (HBV and HCV) among adult patients attending the hepatitis clinic at Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital.

METHODS

Retrospective data were collected using an online Google Form questionnaire (File Appendix 1). Files were randomly selected from among 557 and 209 files for patients with hepatitis B and C, respectively, attending the Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital hepatitis clinic. Descriptive statistics of the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients attending the clinic were determined using SPSS statistical software version 29.0.

RESULTS

The majority (75.8%) of the patients with HBV were male, while females were 24.2%. Most (70.1%) of the patients also belong to the Ubudehe category III. Those from Kigali City accounted for 53.1% of all cases. Of all the participants, 51.03% were either military or police officers. Kicukiro district has the highest proportion of patients from the same district of residence (27.3%). The highest number of patients with HBV attending RMRTH’s hepatitis clinic were aged between 30 and 39 years, accounting for 39.7%. Regarding Hepatitis C, the majority of the patients were female (n = 43, 62.3%). Those with a socioeconomic background in category III were the Majority, 65.2% (n = 45). The majority of patients were unemployed (60.9%, n = 42). Those from Kigali City accounted for 55.1% (n = 38). The majority of HCV patients were from the GASABO district (31.88%, n = 22), followed by Kicukiro District (20.3%, n = 14). The highest number of patients with HCV clinic are aged between 70 and 79 years, accounting for 23.2% (n = 16). Most HBV cases were diagnosed between 2015 and 2019, and the first-line treatment used was tenofovir. For the case of HCV, the HCV Antibody test was the primary diagnostic method, and the first-line treatment for HCV was Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir.

CONCLUSIONS

This research has demonstrated some patterns in HBV and HCV infections. Males account for more cases of HBV infection, while females account for more HCV infections. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.