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Meta-Analysis
. 2018 Dec 20;7(1):239.
doi: 10.1186/s13643-018-0859-6.

Deworming in non-pregnant adolescent girls and adult women: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Elizabeth Tanjong Ghogomu  1 , Shalini Suresh  2 , Pura Rayco-Solon  3 , Alomgir Hossain  4 , Jessie McGowan  5 , Juan Pablo Peña-Rosas  3 , Vivian Welch  6   7
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Deworming in non-pregnant adolescent girls and adult women: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Elizabeth Tanjong Ghogomu et al. Syst Rev. .

Abstract

Background: The impact of deworming on parasite load, nutritional status and other health outcomes of non-pregnant adolescent girls and adult women is uncertain.

Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Food and Technology Abstracts databases were searched until 24 September 2018. Studies were included if they were randomised controlled trials (RCTs), controlled before and after studies or interrupted time studies comparing deworming with no intervention or placebo in non-pregnant adolescent girls and women 10 to 49 years old. Outcomes of interest included parasite load, reinfection, anaemia, severe anaemia, iron deficiency, diarrhoea or all-cause morbidity. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool.

Results: We included four RCTs of mass deworming involving 1086 participants, in the analyses. Mass deworming probably reduces the prevalence of roundworm infection (RR 0.29; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.62; 2 trials; 1498 participants, moderate certainty evidence), prevalence of hookworm infection (RR 0.32; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.59; 2 trials; 1498 participants, moderate certainty evidence), prevalence of whipworm infection (RR 0.77; 95% CI 0.65 to 0.91; 2 trials; 1498 participants, moderate certainty evidence) compared to the control group. Deworming may make little or no difference in prevalence of anaemia (RR 0.82; 95% CI 0.60 to 1.11, 3 studies, 683 participants, low certainty evidence) and prevalence of iron-deficiency (RR 0.89; 95% CI 0.64 to 1.23, 1 study, 186 participants, low certainty evidence) compared to control. We are uncertain whether deworming reduces the prevalence of severe anaemia compared to control as the certainty of evidence was very low. None of the included studies assessed screen and treat deworming or reported reinfection, diarrhoea or adverse events.

Conclusions: Mass deworming probably reduces the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminth infections but may have little or no effect on anaemia and iron-deficiency in adolescent girls and non-pregnant women in comparison to no intervention or placebo. We are uncertain about the effect on severe anaemia. These results are limited by sparse data and the moderate to very low quality of evidence available.

Systematic review registration: The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42016039557 ). Primary source of funding: Evidence and Programme Guidance unit, Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, World Health Organization (WHO).

Keywords: Anaemia; Deworming; Haemoglobin; Non-pregnant; Soil-transmitted helminthiasis; Women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

VW, ETG and AH are authors on a Campbell systematic review and network meta-analysis on deworming in children.

PR and JPP are full-staff members of the World Health Organization (WHO). The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this article and they do not necessarily represent the views, decisions or policies of the World Health Organization.

SS has no competing interests to declare.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Risk of bias summary for included studies
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot for end of study anaemia prevalence as mean difference
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot for end of study anaemia prevalence as mean difference
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Forest plot for end of study severe anaemia prevalence as mean difference
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Forest plot for end of study prevalence of iron deficiency as mean difference
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Forest plot for end of study A. lumbricoides prevalence as mean difference
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Forest plot for end of study hookworm prevalence as mean difference
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Forest plot for end of study T. trichiura prevalence as mean difference
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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