Data capture

All studies were randomly distributed using a random numbers table among study team members (NM, NB, JS, HN, and CS) for double data entry. An electronic query system flagged discrepancies which two statisticians (SK and WA) reviewed and resolved. HCV prevalence estimates and the absolute numbers used to generate such estimates were recorded for each study. Studies were grouped into one of four Sub-Saharan regions using boundaries described by the World Health Organization, namely Central, Eastern, Western, or Southern Africa [11]. Publication year, the highest generation diagnostic assay used (i.e., screening, second, third, or fourth generation assay), and whether studies enrolled individuals under age 16 were also recorded.

Each sample was additionally grouped into a population cohort representing either (1) blood donors, (2) those at high risk for infection (e.g., studies of prisoners and prison guards, adults and children with sickle cell disease, hospital workers, sex workers, intravenous drug users, and hemodialysis patients), (3) individuals with comorbid HIV infection, (4) those with a chronic Illness (e.g., individuals with diabetes, those with a chronic liver disease, or patients admitted to a healthcare facility), or (5) pregnant women; studies of household members, adults, outpatients, healthy children, and infants were grouped into a fifth category representing the general population.