Table 2.
Univariable meta‐regression analysis for studies measuring impact of current use of opioid substitution therapy (OST) and high‐coverage needle and syringe programmes (NSP) on hepatitis C virus (HCV) incidence.
| Current use of OST | High coverage of NSP | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Studies | Univariable rate ratio (95% CI) | Ratio of rate ratios 95% CI | P‐value | Tau‐squared | I 2 | Studies | Univariable rate ratio (95% CI) | Ratio of rate ratios (95% CI) | P‐value | Tau‐squared | I 2 |
| Geographical region | ||||||||||||
| Europe | 8 | 0.51 (0.37–0.70) | 1.0 (Ref) | 5 | 0.44 (0.24–0.80) | 1.0 (Ref) | ||||||
| Australia | 5 | 0.55 (0.28–1.11) | 1.12 (0.52–2.41) | |||||||||
| North America | 6 | 0.69 (0.44–1.08) | 1.42 (0.73–2.78) | 0.53 | 0.1032 | 33.7% | 3 | 1.58 (0.57–4.42) | 3.73 (0.95–14.7) | 0.057 | 0.41 | 71.7% |
| Site of recruitment | ||||||||||||
| Service attenders | 12 | 0.67 (0.49–0.92) | 1.0 (ref) | 3 | 0.67 (0.28–1.59) | 1.0 (Ref) | ||||||
| Community | 7 | 0.49 (0.33–0.73) | 0.73 (0.42–1.27) | 0.256 | 0.06 | 32.3% | 5 | 0.82 (0.29–2.32) | 0.76 (0.12–4.88) | 0.74 | 0.89 | 79.9% |
| Study design | ||||||||||||
| Cross‐sectional | 4 | 0.51 (0.31–0.85) | 1.0 | 3 | 0.34 (0.16–0.75) | 1.0 (Ref) | ||||||
| Prospective cohort | 15 | 0.58 (0.43–0.77) | 1.12 (0.48–2.61) | 0.784 | 0.1001 | 35.3% | 4 | 1.26 (0.55–2.93) | 3.53 (0.78–15.86) | 0.087 | 0.478 | 74.5% |
| Females | 17 | 1.59 (1.13–2.29) | 0.01 | 0.04 | 13.8% | 7 | 2.97 (0.38–23.1) | 0.24 | 0.87 | 81.3% | ||
| Prison | 11 | 1.057 (0.61–1.79) | 0.821 | 0.4303 | 56.3% | 3 | NA | |||||
| Homelessness | 12 | 1.08 (0.83–1.40) | 0.521 | 0.2327 | 39.8% | 6 | 1.01 (0.38–2.67) | 0.976 | 1.53 | 80.6% | ||
| Injection of stimulants | 12 | 0.89 (0.65–1.22) | 0.373 | 0.17 | 36.2% | 7 | 1.08 (0.47–2.51) | 0.827 | 1.15 | 80.4% | ||
| Daily injection | 7 | 0.88 (0.64–1.22) | 0.373 | 0.17 | 47.3% | 5 | 3.66 (0.22–61.3) | 0.239 | 1.15 | |||
CI = confidence interval; NA = not available.