Table 1 General characteristics of studies
Study | Country | Location | Design | Participants | Intervention | HCV measurement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hagan 1995 [40] | USA | Tacoma, WA | Case–control | Cases: 20 men and women (5 NEP users, 15 non-users), heterosexual injection drug user, have a discrete date of onset of clinical symptoms, serum aminotransferase levels greater than 2.5 times the upper limit of normal, exclusion of other causes of liver injury, serum test positive for hepatitis C Controls: 26 men and women (19 NEP users, 7 non-users), current injection drug user from other Tacoma Pierce County Health Department services (including those individuals entering a methadone drug treatment program or attending the HIV testing center) during the time cases were reported (1991–1993) | Ever used NEP | serum |
Hagan 2004 [41] | USA | Seattle, WA | Cohort | 484 men and women (324 NEP users, 160 non-users), drug injection during previous year, English or Spanish speaking, age 14Â years or older, and not already in the study | Use of NEP (yes/no) | serum |
Holtzman 2009 [42] | USA | Baltimore, MD Chicago, IL Los Angeles, CA New York, NY | Cohort/RCTa | 1202 men and women (518 NEP users, 684 non-users) that participated in one of three CIDUS studies: CIDUS I: 18–50 years old, reported injecting drugs in the past 12 months; CIDUS II: 18 to 30 years old, reported injecting drugs in the past six months; CIDUS III: injection drug users 15 to 30 years old, reported injecting drugs in the past 6 months | CIDUS I and II: NEP participation within the past six months; CIDUS III: NEP participation within the past 3 months | serum |
Patrick 2001[43] | Canada | Vancover, BC | Cohort | 155 men and women (75 NEP users, 80 non-users), PWIDs, residing in the greater Vancouver area, injected at least once in the previous month | NEP attendance at least once per week in the previous 6Â months | serum |
Roy 2007 [44] | Canada | Québec Ottawa, ON | Cohortb | 359 men and women, at least one injection in the past 6 months, participated at least twice in SurvUDI between 1997 and 2003 | NEP use in previous 6 months | saliva |
Todd 2015 [45] | Afghanistan | Kabul | Cohort | 191 men, reported injecting drugs within the past 30Â days, residing in Kabul, Dari or Pashto speakers | Any NEP use during the previous 3Â months | serum |