SynthesisAddiction (Abingdon, England)2018
Needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy for preventing HCV transmission among people who inject drugs: findings from a Cochrane Review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 192 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
192 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 351 citations in OpenAlex.
- The global epidemiology of injecting drug use, HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis among people who are incarcerated: a multistage systematic review.The International journal on drug policy · 2026Pooled it
- Guideline
- Management of opioid use disorder: 2024 update to the national clinical practice guideline.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2024Guideline
- Impact of harm minimization interventions on reducing blood-borne infection transmission and some injecting behaviors among people who inject drugs: an overview and evidence gap mapping.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Pooled it
- The impact of relaxing restrictions on take-home doses during the COVID-19 pandemic on program effectiveness and client experiences in opioid agonist treatment: a mixed methods systematic review.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Pooled it
- Comprehensive needle and syringe program and opioid agonist therapy reduce HIV and hepatitis c virus acquisition among people who inject drugs in different settings: A pooled analysis of emulated trials.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Global coverage of interventions to prevent and manage drug-related harms among people who inject drugs: a systematic review.The Lancet. Global health · 2023Pooled it
- Association Between Opioid Agonist Therapy and Testing, Treatment Uptake, and Treatment Outcomes for Hepatitis C Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Pooled it
- Association between opioid agonist therapy use and HIV testing uptake among people who have recently injected drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Pooled it
- The Impact of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder on Hepatitis C Incidence Among Incarcerated Persons: A Systematic Review.Infectious disease clinics of North America · 2020Pooled it
- All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among People Using Extramedical Opioids: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Global patterns of opioid use and dependence: harms to populations, interventions, and future action.Lancet (London, England) · 2019Pooled it
- Leveraging the role of community pharmacists in the prevention, surveillance, and treatment of opioid use disorders.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2019Pooled it
- Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Indigenous Populations in the United States and Canada.Epidemiologic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy for preventing HCV transmission among people who inject drugs: findings from a Cochrane Review and meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2018Pooled it
- Harm Reduction in Peer-Assisted Telemedicine for Hepatitis C: Secondary Outcomes of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Viruses · 2024Trial
- Effect of an mHealth Intervention on Hepatitis C Testing Uptake Among People With Opioid Use Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Trial
- Exploring Sexually Transmitted and Bloodborne Infection Rates in Florida After Implementation of Syringe Services Programs: A Quasi-Experimental Study.AJPM focus · 2026Article
- Methadone treatment and associated health and social outcomes after a national manufacturing closure in Mexico: a longitudinal observational cohort study in Tijuana.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
132 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 8 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsTo estimate the effects of needle and syringe programmes (NSP) and opioid substitution therapy (OST), alone or in combination, for preventing acquisition of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in people who inject drugs (PWID).
methodsSystematic review and meta-analysis. Bibliographic databases were searched for studies measuring concurrent exposure to current OST (within the last 6 months) and/or NSP and HCV incidence among PWID. High NSP coverage was defined as regular NSP attendance or ≥ 100% coverage (receiving sufficient or greater number of needles and syringes per reported injecting frequency). Studies were assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias in non-randomized studies tool. Random-effects models were used in meta-analysis.
resultsWe identified 28 studies (n = 6279) in North America (13), United Kingdom (five), Europe (four), Australia (five) and China (one). Studies were at moderate (two), serious (17) critical (seven) and non-assessable risk of bias (two). Current OST is associated with 50% [risk ratio (RR) =0.50, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.40-0.63] reduction in HCV acquisition risk, consistent across region and with low heterogeneity (I
conclusionsOpioid substitution therapy reduces risk of hepatitis C acquisition and is strengthened in combination with needle and syringe programmes (NSP). There is weaker evidence for the impact of needle syringe programmes alone, although stronger evidence that high coverage is associated with reduced risk in Europe.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.