- To determine the diagnostic test accuracy of Forns index and 'FIB4' in diagnosing people with chronic hepatitis C virus, using liver biopsy as the reference standard.
- To compare the diagnostic accuracy of the pre-defined cut-off values, used in the original publications, versus the accuracy of other published cut-off values, used in the included studies.
- To compare the diagnostic accuracy of Forns index and 'FIB4' in people with chronic hepatitis C.
- To explore potential sources of heterogeneity:
- serum levels of alanine transferase activity (Dufour 2000);
- different levels of inflammation according to liver biopsy;
- different quality of liver biopsy sample (based on length and number of portal tracts);
- people with and without HIV co-infection;
- studies with high methodological quality compared to studies with low or unclear methodological quality, applying the QUADAS-2 tool (Whiting 2011).
This is a protocol.