The following is a summary of “Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis C Virus-related Disparities in Undergoing Emergency General Surgical Procedures in the United States, 2016–2019” published in the February 2024 issue of Surgery by Himmelstein, et al.
For a study, researchers sought to find out if different groups of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWHIV) and people living with hepatitis C virus (PLWHCV) have different experiences getting emergency general surgery (EGS) care. People who are PLWHIV or PLWHCV face discrimination in many areas, but it is yet to be known if this includes getting EGS care.
They looked at 507,458 non-selective admissions of adults between 2016 and 2019 who needed one of the seven most common EGS procedures, which were appendectomy, laparotomy, cholecystectomy, operative management of peptic ulcer disease, or lysis of peritoneal adhesions. The data came from the National Inpatient Sample. They used logistic regression to look at the link between having HIV/HCV and the chance of having one of these treatments, taking into account demographics, other illnesses, and the features of the hospital. They also did separate subgroup studies for each of the seven treatments.
When other factors were taken into account, PLWHIV had a lower likelihood of getting a recommended EGS treatment (aOR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.73–0.89), as did PLWHCV (aOR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.63–0.70). PLWHIV were less likely to have a cholecystectomy (aOR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.58–0.80). People with PLWHCV were less likely to have an appendectomy (aOR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.59–0.98) or cholecystectomy (aOR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.53–0.62). PLWHIV and PLWHCV patients were less likely to have EGS treatments than other patients who were otherwise identical. More needs to be done to ensure that PLWHIV and PLWHCV have equal access to EGS care.
