297 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C who were admitted to hospital or treated as outpatients at Beijing Ditan Hospital were eligible for the study. The diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C was based on the detection of anti-HCV antibodies (anti-HCV) by a third generation microparticle chemoluminescence assay and HCV RNA by a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Patients were required to have evidence of HCV infection for at least 6 months.