ArticleHarm reduction journal2018
Barriers and facilitators to hepatitis C (HCV) screening and treatment-a description of prisoners' perspective.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 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
35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Best practice guidelines for viral hepatitis service delivery in prisons.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- A Qualitative Systematic Review of Barriers and Facilitators to Hepatitis B and C Programmes in Prisons.Journal of viral hepatitis · 2025Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators to hepatitis C screening and treatment for people with lived experience of homelessness: A mixed-methods systematic review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2022Pooled it
- Article
- Who is left out? A systematic review on the barriers and facilitators for screening participation reported by people in vulnerable situations with strategies for the future.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Lessons learned from viral hepatitis testing that inform law and policy responses to steatotic liver disease.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- Rationale, design, and methodology of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of peer-enhanced care coordination on linkage to HCV care among formerly incarcerated individuals.Contemporary clinical trials · 2025Article
- Using the socioecological model to guide service delivery improvements to the prison needle exchange program in Canada: insights from multi-level stakeholders.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Impact of the removal of treatment barriers on the microelimination of chronic hepatitis C in Slovak prisons: experience from real-life settings.Clinical and experimental hepatology · 2025Article
- Linkage to hepatitis C virus care in a binational cohort study of People who inject drugs on the U.S.-Mexico border.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- A scoping review on HCV screening strategies: population to screen and the test types.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Perceptions about hepatitis C and barriers and enablers to screening and treatment among Egyptian immigrants to Canada: a theory-informed qualitative study.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Hepatitis C Care in the Greater New Orleans Area: Patient Perspectives on the Barriers and Facilitators to Care.Journal of health care for the poor and underserved · 2025Article
- Practical solutions to resolve social barriers to hepatitis C treatment initiation among people who inject drugs: a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Article
- Perceived patient navigator services and characteristics to address barriers to linkage to hepatitis C care among people released from provincial prison in Quebec, Canada.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- Barriers to access to hepatitis C treatment with direct-acting antivirals in people who inject drugs in the community setting.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Factors associated with prior completion of colorectal cancer and hepatitis C virus screenings among community health center patients: a cross-sectional study to inform a multi-behavioral educational intervention.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Article
- The Efficacy of On-Site Integration Screening and Microelimination Programs for Chronic Hepatitis C in a Detection Center: A Comparison of the Treatment Outcomes and Characteristics of Incarcerated Patients and Outpatients.International journal of hepatology · 2024Article
- Rapid point-of-care testing for hepatitis C - assessment of feasibility, knowledge of participants and outcomes.Gastroenterology and hepatology from bed to bench · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global epidemic with an estimated 71 million people infected worldwide. People who inject drugs (PWID) are overrepresented in prison populations globally and have higher levels of HCV infection than the general population. Despite increased access to primary health care while in prison, many HCV infected prisoners do not engage with screening or treatment. With recent advances in treatment regimes, HCV in now a curable and preventable disease and prisons provide an ideal opportunity to engage this hard to reach population.
aimTo identify barriers and enablers to HCV screening and treatment in prisons.
methodsA qualitative study of four prisoner focus groups (n = 46) conducted at two prison settings in Dublin, Ireland.
resultsThe following barriers to HCV screening and treatment were identified: lack of knowledge, concerns regarding confidentiality and stigma experienced and inconsistent and delayed access to prison health services. Enablers identified included; access to health care, opt-out screening at committal, peer support, and stability of prison life which removed many of the competing priorities associated with life on the outside. Unique blocks and enablers to HCV treatment reported were fear of treatment and having a liver biopsy, the requirement to go to hospital and in-reach hepatology services and fibroscanning.
conclusionThe many barriers and enablers to HCV screening and treatment reported by Irish prisoners will inform both national and international public health HCV elimination strategies. Incarceration provides a unique opportunity to upscale HCV treatment and linkage to the community would support effectiveness.
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.