Kosin Med J.  2018 Jun;33(1):41-50. 10.7180/kmj.2018.33.1.41.

Are there differences in hepatitis-B immunization status between diabetes and non-diabetes subjects in Korea?

• Park JY
• Kwon SK

• KMID: 2415839
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7180/kmj.2018.33.1.41

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends hepatitis-B virusVIruS vaccination for unvaccinated adults with diabetes. However, the Korean Diabetes Association (KDA) did not recommend hepatitis-B vaccination for unvaccinated adults with diabetes. This study was performed to assess the differences in hepatitis-B virus antigen and antibody status between Korean patients with diabetes and those without by using national survey data.
METHODS
We analyzed hepatitis-B virus antigen and antibody status in 9,771 South Korean people from the general population based on the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Diabetes patients were defined as those with a measured fasting plasma glucose over 126 mg/dL or those who had been previously diagnosed with diabetes by other health care centers.
RESULTS
Subjects with diabetes accounted for 812 (8.3%) among the 9771 study subjects. The prevalence ofhepatitis-B (HBsAg) seropositive subjects was not significantly different (3.9% vs. 4.6%, P = 0.09) between subjects with diabetes and those without. The prevalence of hepatitis-B antibody (HBsAb) positive subjects and unimmunized subjects was not significantly different (55.2% vs. 58.2%, P = 0.09, 40.9% vs. 37.2%, P = 0.09) between the two groups. The prevalence of unimmunized subjects decreased by age ( < 20 years 33.3 % vs. 33.0%, 20~29 years 49.1% vs. 41.2%, 30~39 years 41.9% vs. 37.7%, 40~49 years 35.1% vs. 33.5%, 50~59 years 39.0% vs. 38.0%, 60~69 years 41.2% vs. 39.8%, > 70 years 48.5% vs. 42.8%) but was not significantly different between the 2 groups.
CONCLUSIONS
From this study, we conclude that there are not sufficient grounds to recommend routine hepatitis-B virus vaccination for unvaccinated Korean subjects with diabetes at this point in time in Korea. Further prospective studies will be needed.

Keyword

Diabetes; Hepatitis B; Immunization; Korean National Health and Nutrition

MeSH Terms

Adult
Blood Glucose
Delivery of Health Care
Fasting
Hepatitis B
Humans
Immunization*
Korea*
Nutrition Surveys
Prevalence
Prospective Studies
Vaccination

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Distribution of hepatitis-B immunization status among diabetes and non-diabetes subjects.

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