Abstract PO-267: Demographic and psychosocial predictors of regular chronic hepatitis B monitoring among Asian Americans

Background: Asian Americans are 8-13 times more likely to develop liver cancer caused by chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and experience a 60% higher death rate than non-Hispanic whites. Doctor visitation for CHB monitoring every six months is effective to prevent liver cancer. Methods: This study utilized the baseline data from an ongoing randomized controlled clinical trial aimed at improving long-term adherence to CHB monitoring and treatment. The goal was to examine the association of sociodemographic and psychosocial factors with having a doctor's visit for their CHB in the past 12-months. Eligible Asian American CHB patients were recruited from the Greater Philadelphia Area and New York City. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to test the associations. Results: The analysis sample consists of 240 participants, among which 74% did not have a college degree, 46% had lower than $20,000 annual household income, 72% had limited English proficiency. Multivariable logistic regression showed that a higher hepatitis B (HBV) knowledge score (OR = 1.24, p < 0.01) and having a regular physician (OR = 3.45, p < .05) were significantly associated with a higher chance of having visited a doctor in the past 6 months for their CHB management. Having health insurance (OR = 4.63, p < .05), a higher knowledge score (OR = 1.29, p < .01), and a higher CHB management motivation score (OR = 1.12, p < .001) were associated with a higher chance of having blood work done in the past 6 months; Vietnamese ethnicity (vs Chinese) and having a college degree (vs not) were associated with a lower chance of testing. Conclusion: Our study found that both sociodemographic and psychosocial factors had significant impacts on CHB management, suggesting that addressing barriers to health care and improving CHB patients' psychosocial status would be effective intervention strategies to promote CHB management and liver cancer prevention among vulnerable Asian Americans with CHB.

Citation Format: Lin Zhu, Wenyue Lu, Sarit Golub, Yin Tan, Ming-Chin Yeh, Minhhuyen T Nguyen, Elizabeth Handorf, Grace X. Ma. Demographic and psychosocial predictors of regular chronic hepatitis B monitoring among Asian Americans [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: 14th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2021 Oct 6-8. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-267.