title: Hepatitis C infection in hemodialysis patients in Iran: a systematic review.
abstract: Hemodialysis (HD) patients are recognized as one of the high-risk groups for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The prevalence of HCV infection varies widely between 5.5% and 24% among different Iranian populations. Preventive programs for reducing HCV infection prevalence in these patients require accurate information. In the present study, we estimated HCV infection prevalence in Iranian HD patients. In this systematic review, we collected all published and unpublished documents related to HCV infection prevalence in Iranian HD patients from April 2001 to March 2008. We selected descriptive/analytic cross-sectional studies/surveys that have sufficiently declared objectives, a proper sampling method with identical and valid measurement instruments for all study subjects, and proper analysis methods regarding sampling design and demographic adjustments. We used a meta-analysis method to calculate nationwide prevalence estimation. Eighteen studies from 12 provinces (consisting 49.02% of the Iranian total population) reported the prevalence of HCV infection in Iranian HD patients. The HCV infection prevalence in Iranian HD patients is 7.61% (95% confidence interval: 6.06-9.16%) with the recombinant immunoblot assay method. Iran is among countries with low HCV infection prevalence in HD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. editor@hepmon.com
authors.forename: Seyed-Moayed
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Alavian
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kabir
authors.forename: Amir Bahrami
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.forename: Kamran Bagheri
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Lankarani
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shahbabaie
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmadzad-Asl
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012307:Risk Factors