摘要
Given the overwhelming evidence that both alcoho consumption and smoking accelerate the progression of hepatitis C virus(HCV)-induced liver disease we evaluated the frequency of alcohol and smoking counseling of patients with HCV-induced liver disease by their primary care internists and gastroenterologists.One hundred and twenty-three medical records of consecutive patients with HCV-induced liver disease referred by an internist to a gastroenterologist for its management were reviewed.Patient gender,race,history of and counseling against alcohol and tobacco use by a physician and a gastroenterologist were obtained A database was created using Microsoft Excel.There were 105 African-Americans,12 Caucasians and six patients of other races/ethnicities.Forty-six(37%)pa- tients were daily tobacco users and 34(28%)patients were daily alcohol consumers.There was a statistically significant difference in the frequencies of alcohol(P= 0.0002)and smoking cessation(P=0.0022)between gastroenterologists and internists.This study reveals that internists and gastroenterologists,alike,inadequately counsel patients with hepatitis C about tobacco and alcohol use.
Given the overwhelming evidence that both alcoho consumption and smoking accelerate the progression of hepatitis C virus(HCV)-induced liver disease we evaluated the frequency of alcohol and smoking counseling of patients with HCV-induced liver disease by their primary care internists and gastroenterologists.One hundred and twenty-three medical records of consecutive patients with HCV-induced liver disease referred by an internist to a gastroenterologist for its management were reviewed.Patient gender,race,history of and counseling against alcohol and tobacco use by a physician and a gastroenterologist were obtained A database was created using Microsoft Excel.There were 105 African-Americans,12 Caucasians and six patients of other races/ethnicities.Forty-six(37%)pa- tients were daily tobacco users and 34(28%)patients were daily alcohol consumers.There was a statistically significant difference in the frequencies of alcohol(P= 0.0002)and smoking cessation(P=0.0022)between gastroenterologists and internists.This study reveals that internists and gastroenterologists,alike,inadequately counsel patients with hepatitis C about tobacco and alcohol use.