Physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Myanmar.

<h4>Background</h4>In Myanmar, over five million people are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis has been a recent focus with the development of a National Strategic Plan on Hepatitis and plans to subsidize HCV treatment.<h4>Methods</h4>...

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Main Authors: Yoona A Kim, Sam Trinh, Si Thura, Khin Pyone Kyi, Thomas Lee, Stan Sze, Adam Richards, Andrew Aronsohn, Grace L H Wong, Yasuhito Tanaka, Geoffrey Dusheiko, Mindie H Nguyen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181603&type=printable
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author Yoona A Kim
Sam Trinh
Si Thura
Khin Pyone Kyi
Thomas Lee
Stan Sze
Adam Richards
Andrew Aronsohn
Grace L H Wong
Yasuhito Tanaka
Geoffrey Dusheiko
Mindie H Nguyen
author_facet Yoona A Kim
Sam Trinh
Si Thura
Khin Pyone Kyi
Thomas Lee
Stan Sze
Adam Richards
Andrew Aronsohn
Grace L H Wong
Yasuhito Tanaka
Geoffrey Dusheiko
Mindie H Nguyen
author_sort Yoona A Kim
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>In Myanmar, over five million people are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis has been a recent focus with the development of a National Strategic Plan on Hepatitis and plans to subsidize HCV treatment.<h4>Methods</h4>During a two-day national liver disease symposium covering HCV, HBV, hepatocellular (HCC), and end-stage liver disease (ESLD), physician surveys were administered using the automated response system (ARS) to assess physician knowledge, perceptions of barriers to screening and treatment, and proposed solutions. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratio (OR) relating demography and practice factors with higher provider knowledge and improvement.<h4>Results</h4>One hundred two physicians attending from various specialty areas (31.0% specializing in gastroenterology/hepatology and/or infectious disease) were of mixed gender (46.8% male), were younger than or equal to 40 years old (51.1% 20 to 40 years), had less experience (61.6% with ≤10 years of medical practice), were from the metropolitan area of Yangon (72.1%), and saw <10 liver disease patients per week (74.3%). The majority of physicians were not comfortable with treating or managing patients with liver disease. The post-test scores demonstrated an improvement in liver disease knowledge (9.0% ± 27.0) compared to the baseline pre-test scores; no variables were associated with significant improvement in hepatitis knowledge. Physicians identified the cost of diagnostic blood tests and treatment as the most significant barrier to treatment. Top solutions proposed were universal screening policies (46%), removal of financial barriers for treatment (29%), patient education (14%) and provider education (11%).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Physician knowledge improved after this symposium, and many other needs were revealed by the physician input on barriers to care and their solutions. These survey results are important in guiding the next steps to improve liver disease management and future medical education efforts in Myanmar.
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spelling doaj-art-eac45522c0be499785d7615aa876863e2025-08-20T03:04:38ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01128e018160310.1371/journal.pone.0181603Physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Myanmar.Yoona A KimSam TrinhSi ThuraKhin Pyone KyiThomas LeeStan SzeAdam RichardsAndrew AronsohnGrace L H WongYasuhito TanakaGeoffrey DusheikoMindie H Nguyen<h4>Background</h4>In Myanmar, over five million people are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis has been a recent focus with the development of a National Strategic Plan on Hepatitis and plans to subsidize HCV treatment.<h4>Methods</h4>During a two-day national liver disease symposium covering HCV, HBV, hepatocellular (HCC), and end-stage liver disease (ESLD), physician surveys were administered using the automated response system (ARS) to assess physician knowledge, perceptions of barriers to screening and treatment, and proposed solutions. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratio (OR) relating demography and practice factors with higher provider knowledge and improvement.<h4>Results</h4>One hundred two physicians attending from various specialty areas (31.0% specializing in gastroenterology/hepatology and/or infectious disease) were of mixed gender (46.8% male), were younger than or equal to 40 years old (51.1% 20 to 40 years), had less experience (61.6% with ≤10 years of medical practice), were from the metropolitan area of Yangon (72.1%), and saw <10 liver disease patients per week (74.3%). The majority of physicians were not comfortable with treating or managing patients with liver disease. The post-test scores demonstrated an improvement in liver disease knowledge (9.0% ± 27.0) compared to the baseline pre-test scores; no variables were associated with significant improvement in hepatitis knowledge. Physicians identified the cost of diagnostic blood tests and treatment as the most significant barrier to treatment. Top solutions proposed were universal screening policies (46%), removal of financial barriers for treatment (29%), patient education (14%) and provider education (11%).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Physician knowledge improved after this symposium, and many other needs were revealed by the physician input on barriers to care and their solutions. These survey results are important in guiding the next steps to improve liver disease management and future medical education efforts in Myanmar.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181603&type=printable
spellingShingle Yoona A Kim
Sam Trinh
Si Thura
Khin Pyone Kyi
Thomas Lee
Stan Sze
Adam Richards
Andrew Aronsohn
Grace L H Wong
Yasuhito Tanaka
Geoffrey Dusheiko
Mindie H Nguyen
Physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Myanmar.
PLoS ONE
title Physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Myanmar.
title_full Physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Myanmar.
title_fullStr Physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Myanmar.
title_full_unstemmed Physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Myanmar.
title_short Physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Myanmar.
title_sort physician perspectives on the management of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma in myanmar
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181603&type=printable
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