Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26171595›Full record

ArticleHepatology (Baltimore, Md.)2015

Toward a more accurate estimate of the prevalence of hepatitis C in the United States.

Brian R Edlin, Benjamin J Eckhardt, Marla A Shu, Scott D Holmberg, Tracy Swan

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 215 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
215citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

215 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
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  10. Review
  11. Recent Trends of Incidence, Mortality, Treatment, and Overall Survival of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the United States.Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association · 2026
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Hepatitis C Surveillance in the United States: Past, Present, and Future.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974) · 2025
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

155 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Brian R EdlinDepartment of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.
Benjamin J EckhardtDepartment of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.
Marla A ShuDepartment of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY.
Scott D HolmbergDivision of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Tracy SwanTreatment Action Group, New York, NY.

Funding

HCV Transmission among Young IDUs in NYCR01DA021550 · NIDA · SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER · PI EDLIN, BRIAN R. · 2008 to 2012
$4.1M
Acute HCV Infection in Injection Drug UsersR01DA016159 · NIDA · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI EDLIN, BRIAN R. · 2004 to 2008
$3.5M
Integrated vs. Separate Care for Hepatitis C, Substance Abuse, and HIV PreventionR01DA029512 · NIDA · SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER · PI EDLIN, BRIAN R. · 2010 to 2014
$3.4M
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA016159NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA021550NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA029512
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

unlabelledData from the 2003-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) indicate that about 3.6 million people in the United States have antibodies to the hepatitis C virus, of whom 2.7 million are currently infected. NHANES, however, excludes several high-risk populations from its sampling frame, including people who are incarcerated, homeless, or hospitalized; nursing home residents; active-duty military personnel; and people living on Indian reservations. We undertook a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature and sought out unpublished presentations and data to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C in these excluded populations and in turn improve the estimate of the number of people with hepatitis C in the United States. The available data do not support a precise result, but we estimated that 1.0 million (range 0.4 million-1.8 million) persons excluded from the NHANES sampling frame have hepatitis C virus antibody, including 500,000 incarcerated people, 220,000 homeless people, 120,000 people living on Indian reservations, and 75,000 people in hospitals. Most are men. An estimated 0.8 million (range 0.3 million-1.5 million) are currently infected. Several additional sources of underestimation, including nonresponse bias and the underrepresentation of other groups at increased risk of hepatitis C that are not excluded from the NHANES sampling frame, were not addressed in this study.

conclusionThe number of US residents who have been infected with hepatitis C is unknown but is probably at least 4.6 million (range 3.4 million-6.0 million), and of these, at least 3.5 million (range 2.5 million-4.7 million) are currently infected; additional sources of potential underestimation suggest that the true prevalence could well be higher.

Indexed as

FemaleHepatitis CHepatitis C AntibodiesHumansMalePrevalenceUnited StatesHepatitis C Antibodies

Identifiers

PMID26171595
PMCPMC4751870

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.