CRD Summary: This review assessed medical care for hepatitis C virus infected methadone maintenance patients, concluding that there was support for antiviral therapy in methadone maintenance patients with hepatitis C virus infection. However, given the lack of reporting of the review process and the paucity of good quality studies, the results should be treated with caution.

[The included studies assessed interferon, ribavirin and peginterferon at different doses and frequencies; buprenorphine-maintained patients were also included. ]

CRD Commentary: The review addressed a clear question, undertook a search of three databases for studies and presented brief inclusion criteria. The literature search was restricted to publications in English and it was unclear whether there was a specific search for unpublished studies, therefore, some studies may have been missed. It was unclear how many of the authors were involved in study selection and data extraction. The included studies comprised small sample sizes and were generally of poor quality. A narrative synthesis was appropriate given the clinical heterogeneity between studies. In light of the shortcomings over the reporting of the review process and the paucity of good quality studies, the findings should be treated with caution.