Epidemiology of Hepatitis C virus infection among incarcerated populations in North Dakota.

This retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HCV infections among individuals incarcerated in a state prison system and identify potential contributing factors to HCV infection. North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (NDDOCR) data from 2009 to 2018 was used and period prevalence was calculated for this 10-year time period. The period prevalence of HCV infection was (15.13% (95% CI 14.39-15.90) with a marginally significant (p-value: 0.0542) increasing linear trend in annual prevalence over this period. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors associated with HCV infection. The main significant independent risk factors for HCV infection in this incarcerated population were age >40 years [OR: 1.78 (1.37-2.32)]; sex [OR: 1.21 (1.03-1.43)]; race/ethnicity [OR: 1.97 (1.69-2.29)]; history of intravenous drug use (IVDU) [OR: 7.36 (6.41-8.44)]; history of needle or syringe sharing [OR: 7.57 (6.62-8.67)]; and alcohol use [OR: 0.87 (0.77-0.99)]. Study limitations include uncollected information on sexual history, frequency or duration of injection drug use and blood transfusion history of the incarcerated population. Considering the high prevalence of HCV infection and its associated risk factors, it is important to implement prevention programs such as syringe/needle exchanges and counsel with imprisoned IVD users.