Table 2 Characteristics of studies on HCV seroprevalence during incarceration

Study	Year performed	Study design	Country	Participation rate (%)	Type of sampling	Studied population	Men (%)	IDU (%)	HCV-S (%) (prison)	HCV-S (%) among IDU (prison)	HCV-S (%) among non-IDU (prison)	HCV-S (%) (general population)	HCV-S (%) among IDU (general population)
Alizadeh et al11	2002	C-S	Iran	100	RS	427	93	35	30	31	29†	0.1	45
Anon et al13	1991	L	Spain	41	CS	750	100	37	45	90	16	0.7	60
Babudieri et al15	2001	C-S	Italy	82	CS	973	87	30	38	75	22	0.5	65
Butler and colleagues18 19 49	1996	C-S	Australia	90	RS	789	83	32	39	–	12	0.3	65
Catalan-Soares et al20	1994	C-S	Brazil			63	100	–	6	–	8	0.6	70
Christensen et al22	1996	L	Denmark	79	VP*	325	100	43	43	87	10	0.2	75
Ford et al23 24	1995	C-S	Canada	68	VP	350	100	37	33	73	9	0.1	53
Ford et al23 24	1995	C-S	Canada	87	VP	113	0	–	40	–	–	0.1	53
Guimaraes et al28	1993	C-S	Brazil	100	SS	756	100	17	41	82	–	2.6	70
Hellard et al30	2001	C-S	Australia	20	VP*	630	53	69	57	–	11	0.3	65
Malliori et al33	1994	C-S	Greece	98	VP	533	91	69	58	81	9†	1.5	50
Massad et al34	1993	C-S	Brazil	95	SS	631	100	23	34	–	–	2.6	70
Michault et al35	1997	C-S	La Réunion	50–71	VP	100	100	3	2	0	2	0.8	–
Pearson et al38	1995	C-S	USA	69	VP	408	100	–	28	–	–	1.8	66
Saiz de la Hoya et al41	2001	C-S	Spain	91	VP	730	99	72	38	93	8	0.7	60
Singh et al43	1998	C-S	India	25	VP	240	–	3	5	–	–	1.8	92
Utsumi et al46	1993	C-S	Japan	100	VP	201	100	34	50	–	13	2.3	74

C-S, Cross-sectional; CS, convenience sample; HCV-S, hepatitis C seroprevalence; IDU, intravenous drug user; L, longitudinal; NS, not specified; RS, routine screening; SS, selection performed through the calculation of the sample size; VP, voluntary participation.
*The excluded subsample did not exhibit any statistically significant differences from the sample used.
†The HCV seroprevalence was calculated among non-IDU.