For mixed-sex samples, data were extracted for the total sample a

For mixed-sex samples, data were extracted for the total sample and also disaggregated

by sex, if possible. If disaggregation by detainee type or sex resulted in a sample size of less than 40, that subsample was excluded. For sources reporting incidence data, the sample size, number of incident HCV cases, person-years of observation, and incidence rate were extracted. For prevalence sources, the sample size, number of anti-HCV positive participants, and prevalence were extracted. Some sources did not report all incidence or prevalence variables; this website in these cases, missing variables were calculated from other reported values (i.e., numerator calculated from reported denominator and prevalence). Study design and sampling variables (geographical region; type of closed setting; prospectively or retrospectively defined cohort; random or convenience sampling; restriction of recruitment to serving inmates or new entrants; year/s of data collection; percentage of sample male and percentage injecting) were extracted in order to explore heterogeneity in reported click here HCV incidence and prevalence. Geographical regions were defined consistent with other recent global epidemiological reviews.[4, 5] Data analyses were conducted in Stata v. 12 (StataCorp, College Station, TX) using the metan[23]

and metareg[24] commands. Given the expected heterogeneity between studies, all meta-analyses were performed using random effects models, which account for interstudy variation. Meta-analyses of HCV incidence were undertaken for sources reporting on general population detainees and detainees with a history of IDU. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic, which describes the percentage of variation between studies that is due to heterogeneity rather than chance.[25] Interpretation of I2 was as in Higgins et al.[25] The small number of sources of incidence Cyclooxygenase (COX) data prevented further stratification or meta-regression. Meta-analyses of anti-HCV prevalence were

conducted for general population detainees and detainees with a history of IDU, stratified by geographical region. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic, as above, and also explored through meta-regression. Variables used in meta-regressions were cohort ascertainment (prospective versus retrospective); sampling (random versus convenience); detainee status at the time of recruitment (current detainees or current detainees and new entrants versus new entrants only); type of HCV antibody test undertaken (blood/sera versus saliva); mean or median age of the sample; percentage of the sample that was male; percentage of the sample with a history of IDU; and year of completion of data collection.

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