Table 3 Pooled mean estimates for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody prevalence stratified by populations’ and subpopulations’ risk of exposure to HCV infection in Egypt.

From: Characterizing hepatitis C virus epidemiology in Egypt: systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and meta-regressions

	Studies	Samples	Prevalence	Effect size	Heterogeneity measures
	Total N	Total N	Range (%)	Mean (%) (95% CI)	Q (p-value)^*	τ ^2**	I² (confidence limits)^ǂ	Prediction interval (%)^ǁ
All populations
General population	264	1,677,404	0.0–57.6	11.9 (11.1–12.6)	38,386.8 (p < 0.0001)	0.0257	99.3% (99.3–99.3%)	3.5–24.0
Populations at high risk	57	7,459	8.8–100	55.6 (49.4–61.7)	1,437.3 (p < 0.0001)	0.2079	96.1% (95.5–96.6%)	13.1–93.6
Populations at intermediate risk	45	9,427	0.0–90.0	14.3 (10.3–18.8)	1,436.2 (p < 0.0001)	0.1553	96.9% (96.4–97.4%)	0–51.0
Populations with liver-related conditions	72	47,214	4.3–100	56.0 (50.4–61.6)	7,777.2 (p < 0.0001)	0.2199	99.1% (99.0–99.2%)	12.8–94.2
Special clinical populations	34	5,542	0.5–96.1	35.0 (27.3–43.1)	1206 (p < 0.0001)	0.2256	97.3% (96.8–97.7%)	1.5–81.8
General population (populations at low risk)
Blood donors	116	1,566,669	0.0–38.0	10.4 (9.6–11.2)	24,513.7 (p < 0.0001)	0.0180	99.5% (99.5–99.6%)	3.6–20.0
Family replacement	15	262,535	3.8–14.6	7.1 (5.9–8.3)	1,931.7 (p < 0.0001)	0.0080	99.3% (99.1–99.4%)	2.8–13.1
Voluntary	27	1,025,535	0.7–27.2	5.4 (4.4–6.5)	9,700.4 (p < 0.0001)	0.0133	99.7% (99.7–99.8%)	1.3–12.2
Pregnant women	14	12,700	2.3–19.0	9.0 (6.0–12.6)	455.0 (p < 0.0001)	0.0405	97.1% (96.2–97.8%)	0.4–26.1
Children	10	3,408	0.0–38.0	6.4 (2.9–11.1)	171.6 (p < 0.0001)	0.0604	94.8% (92.2–96.5%)	0–28.2
Egyptian expatriate workers undergoing mandatory pre-employment screening and Egyptians living abroad	23	9,168	0.0–38.4	14.4 (9.3–20.4)	1137.0 (p < 0.0001)	0.0349	98.1% (97.7–98.4%)	0–50.4
Other general populations	101	85,459	0.0–57.6	14.3 (12.3–16.4)	6472.6 (P < 0.0001)	0.0192	98.5% (98.3–98.6%)	0.9–38.3
Populations at high risk
Hemodialysis patients	26	4,915	10.0–100.0	65.5 (56.5–74.1)	809.1 (p < 0.0001)	0.2119	96.9% (96.2–97.5%)	18.9–98.6
Thalassemia patients	21	1,812	8.8–82.0	46.3 (34.9–57.9)	484.0 (p < 0.0001)	0.2710	95.9% (94.7–96.8%)	2.9–93.9
Multi-transfused patients	6	449	15.2–81.6	42.9 (24.5–62.3)	80.5 (p < 0.0001)	0.2144	93.8% (89.1–96.5%)	0–98.3
Other populations at high risk	4	283	13.0–63.0	57.5 (36.8–76.9)	34.6 (p < 0.0001)	0.0393	91.3% (80.9–96.1%)	0.0–100
Populations at intermediate risk
Healthcare workers	10	3,402	0.0–42.1	8.4 (3.7–14.8)	274.4 (p < 0.0001)	0.0891	96.7% (95.4–97.7%)	0–37.9
Diabetic patients	6	1,384	12–60.3	24.7 (6.0–50.4)	415.1 (p < 0.0001)	0.4330	98.8% (98.3–99.1%)	0–100
Household contacts of HCV infected persons	13	2,339	0–46.0	13.7 (7.6–21.1)	260.2 (p < 0.0001)	0.1197	95.4% (93.6–96.7%)	0–49.3
Hospitalized patients	6	401	0–90.0	15.9 (0–57.8)	411.1 (p < 0.0001)	1.221	98.8% (98.3–99.1%)	0–100
Other populations at intermediate risk	10	1,547	8.4–41.4	15.2 (11.3–19.4)	39.5 (p < 0.0001)	0.0234	77.2% (58.1–87.6%)	4.2–31.0
Populations with liver-related conditions
Hepatocellular carcinoma patients	22	5,553	30.0–95.2	74.0 (67.1–80.3)	506.2 (p < 0.0001)	0.1071	95.9% (94.7–96.8%)	39.4–97.2
Liver disease patients	28	34,727	16.4–100	65.6 (60.9–70.2)	1121.2 (p < 0.0001)	0.0582	97.6% (97.1–98.0%)	40.3–87.0
Liver cirrhosis patients	2	130	56.0–75.4	66.0 (45.9–83.6)	5.50 (p = 0.0190)	0.0172	81.8% (23.1–95.7%)	0.0–100
Viral hepatitis patients	14	5,992	4.3–78.7	18.1 (11.4–25.8)	360.8 (p < 0.0001)	0.1152	96.4% (95.1–97.3%)	0–54.2
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients	6	812	7.4–50.6	35.3 (17.5–55.4)	149.6 (p < 0.0001)	0.2378	96.7% (94.7–97.9%)	0–96.8
Special clinical populations
Special clinical populations	34	5,542	0.5–96.1	35.0 (27.3–43.1)	1,206 (p < 0.0001)	0.2256	97.3% (96.8–97.7%)	1.5–81.8

^*Q: the Cochran’s Q statistic, a measure assessing the existence of heterogeneity in effect size. ^**τ²: the estimated between-study variance in the double arcsine transformed proportions of the true effect sizes. The back-transformed τ² was not calculated as the methodology to do so is not currently available. ^ǂI²: a measure assessing the magnitude of between-study variation that is due to differences in effect size across studies rather than chance. ^∥Prediction interval: estimates the 95% interval in which the true effect size in a new HCV study will lie.
^**Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.

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Table 3 Pooled mean estimates for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody prevalence stratified by populations’ and subpopulations’ risk of exposure to HCV infection in Egypt.

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