CONTEXT: The hepatitis C is a severe public health problem worldwide because its consequences. Studies which aim at determining the prevalence of risk factors are really important to understand the problem. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence and factors associated with some risk factors for the disease in a community, called Restinga, located in the city of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. METHOD: This paper is based on a population-based cross-sectional study, with systematic sampling and proportional to the size of census tracts in which 3,391 adults answered a standardized questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of blood transfusion among the people who were interviewed was 14.98%, 60.83% of those had it before 1993. A total of 16.16% of the people had a tattoo, 7.23% wore a piercing, 1.09% said they had already injected illicit drugs and 12.39% reported previous hospitalization. Prevalence ratios showed that tattoos were more common among young people, piercings among women and illicit drugs among men. CONCLUSIONS: To summarize, the recognition of risk factors for hepatitis C enables proper screening of possible carriers of the hepatitis C virus, thus enabling a reduction in virus shedding. However, being only possible if health services are prepared to deal with hepatitis C virus, through education and public awareness.
CONTEXT: The hepatitis C is a severe public health problem worldwide because its consequences. Studies which aim at determining the prevalence of risk factors are really important to understand the problem. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence and factors associated with some risk factors for the disease in a community, called Restinga, located in the city of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. METHOD: This paper is based on a population-based cross-sectional study, with systematic sampling and proportional to the size of census tracts in which 3,391 adults answered a standardized questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of blood transfusion among the people who were interviewed was 14.98%, 60.83% of those had it before 1993. A total of 16.16% of the people had a tattoo, 7.23% wore a piercing, 1.09% said they had already injected illicit drugs and 12.39% reported previous hospitalization. Prevalence ratios showed that tattoos were more common among young people, piercings among women and illicit drugs among men. CONCLUSIONS: To summarize, the recognition of risk factors for hepatitis C enables proper screening of possible carriers of the hepatitis C virus, thus enabling a reduction in virus shedding. However, being only possible if health services are prepared to deal with hepatitis C virus, through education and public awareness.