Prevalence and influencing factors of HCV infection among sodium benzoate abusers

Objective To investigate the prevalence and related factors of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among sodium benzoate abusers in Wuwei county of Gansu province and to provide evidences for HCV infection prevention in the area.Methods By using systematic multi-stage cluster sampling,we detected serum HCV antibody among residents with sodium benzoate abuse history recruited from Wuwei county in 2011.Results Among a total of 1 021 abusers,the proportion of smoking abuse of sodium benzoate was 89.62% and the positive rate of serum HCV antibody was 2.6%.The results of non-conditional logistic regression analysis showed that the participants with history of surgery and blood transfusion were more likely to be infected with HCV.Conclusion Smoking abuse is a dominant way and the prevalence of HCV infection is relatively low among sodium benzoate abusers in Wuwei county of Gansu province.