Author information

¹Department of Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, California (Dr Florea, Ms Pak, Dr Malden, Ms Im, and Drs Sahota and Tartof); Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, California (Dr Gounder); Tuberculosis Section, Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Alameda County Public Health Department, San Leandro, California (Dr Chitnis); Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California (Dr Wong); Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System, Palo Alto, California (Dr Wong); and Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Pasadena, California (Dr Tartof).

Abstract

Context: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB), caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV), is a risk factor for cirrhosis. The management of HBV-related cirrhosis is challenging, with guidelines recommending treatment initiation and regular monitoring for those affected.

Objective: Our study characterized Kaiser Permanente Southern California patients with HBV-related cirrhosis and assessed whether they received recommended laboratory testing and imaging monitoring.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting and participants: We identified KPSC members aged ≥18 years with CHB (defined by 2, consecutive positive hepatitis B surface antigens ≥6 months apart) from 2008 to 2019. Of these patients, we further identified patients with potential HBV-related cirrhosis through ICD-10 code diagnosis, adjudicated via chart review.

Main outcome measures: Age, race/ethnicity, laboratory tests (eg, alanine aminotransferase [ALT]), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening (based on standard screening recommendations via imaging) were described in those with HBV-related cirrhosis versus those without.

Results: Among patients with CHB, we identified 65 patients with HBV-related cirrhosis over ~8 years. Diabetes was the most common comorbidity and was approximately 3 times more prevalent among patients with cirrhosis compared to patients without cirrhosis (21.5% vs. 7.1%). Of the 65 patients with cirrhosis, 72.3% (N = 47) received treatment. Generally, we observed that liver function tests (eg, ALT) were completed frequently in this population, with patients completing a median of 10 (6, 16) tests/year. All patients with cirrhosis had ≥1 ALT completed over the study period, and almost all cirrhotic patients (N = 64; 98.5%) had ≥1 HBV DNA test. However, the proportion of yearly imaging visits completed varied across the study years, between 64.0% in 2012 and 87.5% in 2009; overall, 35% (N = 23) completed annual imaging.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that among patients with HBV-related cirrhosis, at the patient-level, completed imaging orders for HCC screening were sub-optimal. However, we observed adequate disease management practices through frequent liver function tests, linkage to specialty care, image ordering, and shared EHR between KPSC providers.