Abstract:

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge level of the physicians in Turkey about the ways of transmission of hepatitis C, prevention, general clinical approach, and new hepatitis C treatment protocols and to increase awareness on this issue. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted between January 2020 and March 2020 among physicians who were specialists and on specialty training. Three hundred and eight physicians were surveyed on hepatitis C diagnosis, treatment, and clinical approach. Results: When asked whether hepatitis C was a notifiable disease, 88 physicians (28.6%) answered “no”, while 167 physicians (54.2%) answered “yes”. While 33.6% of surgical branches had the correct answer that the disease was transmitted by birth in terms of the transmission route, it was found that 20% of physicians answered correctly in non-surgical branches. When the curative treatment of hepatitis C was asked, 70 physicians (22.7%) answered that there was no treatment, while 238 (77.3%) physicians answered that there was a definitive treatment. Conclusion: With the use of direct-acting antivirals in hepatitis C infection, the chance of cure has increased greatly, and the fact that physicians are not fully aware of this new information may cause deficiencies in the patients’ guidance.

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