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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Apr 28:10:859350.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.859350. eCollection 2022.

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Among Healthcare Workers in Asia and Africa and Its Association With Their Knowledge and Awareness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nur Hasnah Maamor  1 , Nor Asiah Muhamad  1 , Nor Soleha Mohd Dali  2 , Mohd Hatta Abdul Mutalip  3 , Fatin Norhasny Leman  1 , Tahir Aris  2 , Nai Ming Lai  4 , Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan  5   6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Among Healthcare Workers in Asia and Africa and Its Association With Their Knowledge and Awareness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nur Hasnah Maamor et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a blood-borne virus that can be transmitted by percutaneous and mucocutaneous contact with infected bodily fluid. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are more exposed to HBV infection. They must have a thorough understanding of HBV infection since they can contract and spread the virus. In this study, we systematically reviewed all published evidence on the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among HCWs. and synthesize evidence on the association between knowledge and awareness with HBV infection.

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Scopus for studies reporting on HBV seroprevalence from January 1997 to September 2021 among healthcare workers. We used random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the pool prevalence of HBV infection.

Results: We identified 25 studies that met our inclusion criteria, with data on 10,043 adults from 11 countries and two regions: Africa and Asia. The overall seroprevalence of HBV was 5.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.6%), with Africa reporting higher estimates (5.0%, 95% CI 3.7%) than Asia population (4.0%, 95% CI 1.9%). The highest pooled prevalence estimate in African countries came from studies published in the Cameroon region (8.0%, 95% CI 5-10%) while the lowest came from Ethiopia (4.0%, 95% CI 2.6%). The overall seroprevalence estimates in the African population were significantly higher than those in the Asian group. Studies in Africa found that the average knowledge and seroprevalence were 1.4% and 11.0%, respectively where, eight studies (53.3%) reported good knowledge and seven studies (46.7%) reported average knowledge. In Asia, two studies (40.0%) reported good knowledge, one study (20.0%) reporting average knowledge, and two studies (40.0%) reporting poor knowledge. African studies demonstrated good knowledge despite the fact that their HBV infection rate was higher than 6.7%.

Conclusion: Africa and Asia have the highest seroprevalence of HBV infection. Improving the comparability of epidemiological and clinical studies constitutes an important step forward. More high-quality data is needed to improve the precision of burden estimates.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42021279905.

Keywords: awareness; epidemiology; healthcare workers; hepatitis B virus; infection; knowledge; prevalence; seroprevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram on selection process. From: Page et al. (24). For more information, visit: http://www.prisma-statement.org/.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot of overall seroprevalence estimate of the Hepatitis B infection among healthcare workers.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot of seroprevalence estimate of the Hepatitis B infection among healthcare workers in Asia.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of seroprevalence estimate of the Hepatitis B infection among healthcare in Africa region.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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