Sapporo Medical Journal

Abstract : Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis that is more predominant in males and inversely correlated with age. Objectives: This study was designed to explore a correlation between hepatitis C viremia and sociodemographic characteristics. Patients and Methods: Two hundred twenty-nine HCV-positive patients at the Teaching Hospital for Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, were included in this study from July 2021 to December 2022. Patients’ sociodemographic characteristics, including age and gender, were also collected using a self-designed questionnaire. The patient’s blood type, Rh factor, and viral load were also determined. Results: The findings showed that most of the patients (n=96, 41.92%) were aged ≥45 years, males (n=134, 58.51%) with blood type O (n= 126, 55%) and had Rh-positive (n=213, 93%). On the other hand, males had a higher mean viral load (5.47 log10 IU/mL) than females (5.16 log10 IU/mL). Also, patients with blood type AB had higher mean viral load (5.6 log10 IU/mL) than other blood types (5.16, 5.33, and 5.39 log10 IU/mL mean viral loads for A, B, and O blood groups, respectively). In addition, the patients with Rh-positive factor (n=213) had a higher mean viral load (5.37 log10 IU/mL) than the Rh-negative factor (n=16) which had 4.96 log10 IU/mL. Conclusion: We concluded that age and gender were more severely impacted by HCV viremia. Additionally, blood group type and Rh-factor were