Incidence of Hepatitis C in Different Age Groups and Socio-Economic Status in Relation to Dietary Habits;A Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease which is caused by hepatitis C virus
(HCV) infection. It causes the irritation or swelling of liver. The primary methods
of its transmission include intravenous drugs use, blood transfusion and unsafe
medical procedures. Hepatitis C disturbs the intake of food and its processing in
the body which causes the deficiency of micro and macro nutrients. The purpose of
this study was nutritional support of the patient, to determine the incidence of
hepatitis C in different age and sexes, to assess the burden of disease in target
population, and to determine the effect of dietary habits and life style on hepatitis
C. Allied hospital Faisalabad was visited for one and a half month. 128
respondents were collected during this time period, and the data from them was
collected by the help of already prepared questionnaire and it was processed by
SPSS computer program. Chi-square test was applied to find the association. The
salient findings of the study were: there were more males (53.9%) than females
(46.1%) affected with hepatitis C. Most of the respondents (42.02%) were of the
age between 31 to 40 years. Majority of them (80.5%) were married. Majority of
the respondents (65.6%) belong to the low socio-economic status, (25.05) were
illiterate and (53.1%) belongs to rural area. There was a significant association
between egg and meat-eating habits and the respondent socioeconomic status.
There was non-significant association between socioeconomic status of
respondents and their wheat, rice, fruits, vegetables, yogurt, milk and salad eating
habits.