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Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Dec;49(12):3000605211039812.
doi: 10.1177/03000605211039812.

Mass hysteria attack rates in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis

Gang Zhao  1 , Qinglin Cheng  1   2 , Xianming Dong  3 , Li Xie  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Mass hysteria attack rates in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis

Gang Zhao et al. J Int Med Res. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: There are few systematic assessments of mass hysteria (MH) attack rates (ARs) in adolescents and children. The study aim was to assess the ARs of MH in this population.

Methods: We used a meta-analysis to systematically review studies and assess ARs.

Results: The reviewed studies included 32,887 participants, of which 2968 were children and adolescents with a history of MH. Twenty-eight studies were included, of which 22 (78.6%) had high to moderate methodological quality. The pooled AR of MH was 9.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.3, 14.0). Of MH studies between 2010 and 2020, 78.6% were conducted between 2010 and 2014. ARs were higher between 2010 and 2014 (10.3%) than between 2015 and 2020 (8.1%). Regarding population characteristics, the AR in girls was 2.43 (95% CI 1.70, 3.46) times higher than in boys. Most studies were on primary school students (46.4%), who showed the highest AR (15.4%). Of six trigger factors, water pollution showed the highest AR (16.3%). ARs were higher in rural areas (11.1%) than in urban areas (5.6%).

Conclusions: MH in children and adolescents seems prevalent and shows some epidemiological characteristics. These findings may assist governments to control and prevent MH epidemics among children and adolescents.

Keywords: Attack rate; adolescent; children; mass hysteria; meta-analysis; prevalence; water pollution.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow chart of study selection.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Forest plot for pooled attack rates of mass hysteria in children and adolescents. CI, confidence interval.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Forest plot for attack rates of subgroups of mass hysteria among children and adolescents. CI, confidence interval.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Funnel plot for meta-analysis of pooled attack rates of mass hysteria in children and adolescents.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Sensitivity analysis plot for meta-analysis of pooled attack rates of mass hysteria in children and adolescents. CI, confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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