The average age of patients was 45, 78% were non-white and 22% spoke limited English. According to their findings:
-
526 patients (54%) were
treatment eligible, but 115 (22%) did not receive treatment. Most
of these untreated patients tested negative for the hepatitis B
"e" antigen and had HBeAg-negative hepatitis B.
-
72% (708) of patients
required annual liver cancer screening, but only 55% (386)
received it. Physicians failed to order cancer screening in 46%
(116) of the patients, and 54% of patients failed to get the
screening because they failed to show up for appointments.
-
34 (35%) of 96 patients did
get liver biopsies, which were needed for treatment decisions. Of
these, 27 (82%) were due to physician failure to order liver
biopsies.
-
Of 389 "inactive" patients
(without signs of liver damage or high viral load), 110 (28%) did
not have an annual ALT assessment. Of these, 53 (48%) were due to
physician error.
-
35% were not tested for
hepatitis A, to see if they needed a vaccine against this liver
infection, and 54% and 24% of patients were not tested for either
HIV nor hepatitis C, respectively, as required by medical
guidelines.
