Table 2.

Exclusion Criteria

• Referred to other diseases as primary topic (HIV, hemophilia, etc.) • Letters to the editor, editorials, or other short commentaries • Microbiology/biochemistry studies • Within cell or within host modeling • Descriptive observational, natural history, or epidemiological studies • Direct cost estimates only • Elicitation of quality of life weights • Studies dealing with health worker infection prevention • Studies related to screening donor blood supply • Actual focus was not on curative treatment of HCV but on management of health consequences related to HCV (i.e., timing of liver transplant, screening for liver cancer in patients with HCV) • Methodological articles with highly stylized examples that might refer to HCV tangentially • Study focus was the timing of treatment before or after liver transplant

HCV, hepatitis C virus.