Health Screening among HBV Carriers in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V (KNHANES V)

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the differences in health screening, including medical checkups and cancer screening,between HBV carriers and non-carriers in the Republic of Korea. In the fifth Korean National Health andNutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V), conducted between 2010 and 2012, 17,865 persons who answeredregarding their HBV-infection status, medical checkup history, liver cancer screening and general cancerscreening within the past years were included in the final analysis. In total, 295 persons were HBV carriers.Logistic regression models were used to compare the health check-up rate between the HBV carriers and non-HBV carriers. The HBV carriers were more likely to have been screened for liver cancer [adjusted odds ratio(OR): 2.83, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.90-4.21] or cancer [OR: 1.44, 95%CI: 1.04-1.99]. The HBVcarriers showed a probability of receiving medical checkups that was identical to that of the non-carriers [OR:0.99, 95%CI: 0.72-1.35]. The HBV carriers, who were at higher risk of developing chronic liver disease, weremore likely to be screened for cancer, including liver cancer, than the non-HBV carriers; no difference in therate of medical checkups was observed between the HBV carriers and non-HBV carriers.