Ong Elissa, Xia Ting, Laing Rose, Richmond Jacqueline A, Higgs Peter, Hayes Mark, Doyle Joseph S, Nielsen Suzanne, Picco Louisa
Monash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Disease Elimination Program, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
J Viral Hepat. 2025 Feb;32(2):e70001. doi: 10.1111/jvh.70001.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set goals to eliminate hepatitis C (HCV) as a global health threat by 2030. To meet this goal, Australia must increase testing and diagnosis, including expanding access to care through community pharmacists. This study aims to explore community pharmacists' preparedness to discuss and offer HCV testing and treatment. Australian community pharmacists from four states completed an online anonymous quantitative survey between August and October 2023. Pharmacists were asked about their experiences of, comfort discussing and willingness to host outreach HCV testing or treatment. Predictors of each outcome were examined using logistic regression. In total, 530 pharmacists participated in the study. One in five pharmacists stocked HCV medications (22%), half (48%) were willing/somewhat willing to host an outreach HCV testing and treatment team, while 36% strongly agreed/agreed they were comfortable discussing HCV testing and treatment. Willingness to host an outreach HCV team was associated with pharmacists working in rural/remote settings (95% CI: 1.04-2.35, p = 0.032), providing opioid agonist treatment (95% CI: 1.16-2.49, p = 0.006) and comfort discussing overdose prevention (95% CI: 1.31-2.80, p = 0.001). Pharmacists with ≥ 15 years' experience (95% CI: 0.44-0.94, p = 0.022) were less willing to host outreach HCV testing. Females were significantly less comfortable discussing HCV testing (95% CI: 0.45-0.98, p = 0.039) compared to males. This is the first Australian study to explore community pharmacists' preparedness to discuss and offer HCV testing and treatment. In light of research showing that community pharmacy models of care can help meet HCV elimination targets, ongoing engagement with pharmacists is needed to increase their preparedness to provide this care.
世界卫生组织（WHO）已设定目标，到2030年消除丙型肝炎（HCV）这一全球健康威胁。为实现这一目标，澳大利亚必须加强检测和诊断，包括通过社区药剂师扩大医疗服务的可及性。本研究旨在探讨社区药剂师对讨论并提供HCV检测和治疗的准备情况。2023年8月至10月期间，来自四个州的澳大利亚社区药剂师完成了一项在线匿名定量调查。调查询问了药剂师关于他们的经历、讨论HCV检测和治疗的舒适度以及举办HCV外展检测或治疗的意愿。使用逻辑回归分析了每个结果的预测因素。共有530名药剂师参与了该研究。五分之一的药剂师储备了HCV药物（22%），一半（48%）愿意/ somewhat愿意接待HCV外展检测和治疗团队，而36%的药剂师强烈同意/同意他们对讨论HCV检测和治疗感到自在。接待HCV外展团队的意愿与在农村/偏远地区工作的药剂师（95%置信区间：1.04 - 2.35，p = 0.032）、提供阿片类激动剂治疗（95%置信区间：1.16 - 2.49，p = 0.006）以及对讨论过量预防感到自在（95%置信区间：1.31 - 2.80，p = 0.001）有关。有≥15年经验的药剂师（95%置信区间：0.44 - 0.94，p = 0.022）接待HCV外展检测的意愿较低。与男性相比，女性对讨论HCV检测明显不那么自在（95%置信区间：0.45 - 0.98，p = 0.039）。这是澳大利亚第一项探讨社区药剂师对讨论并提供HCV检测和治疗的准备情况的研究。鉴于研究表明社区药房护理模式有助于实现HCV消除目标，需要持续与药剂师合作，以提高他们提供这种护理的准备程度。
