A scoping review on the community dividend resulting from testing and treating hepatitis C infection in people living in detention

Abstract

A scoping review was conducted to map out sources, types, characteristics of evidence that substantiate the existence of a community dividend arising from testing and treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in people living in detention – where community dividend is defined as the benefit of prison-related intervention for general population health. Joanna Briggs Institute methodology guidance was used. Literature search was done in EMBASE, Scopus, ASSIA, UWE library, CINAHL Plus, and Medline to find studies published in any country, any language between January 1991 and June 2022. PRISMA ScR flow chart mapped out the number of records identified, included, and reasons for exclusion. Data were extracted and charted in Excel. The findings were systematically reported by charting table headings then synthesized in the discussion. Quality assessment was carried out. The descriptive analysis demonstrated economic, clinical, and epidemiological domains to the community dividend in long-term health expenditure savings, reduction in HCV-related disease sequelae, increase in survival, improvement in quality of life, and reduction in infection transmission, most of which are realized in the community following release. Therefore, targeting marginalized populations affected by HCV could expedite the elimination effort, reduce inequalities, and have a positive impact on the wider population.