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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Jul 16;19(7):e0305838.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305838. eCollection 2024.

Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Yilma Markos Larebo  1   2 , Abebe Alemu Anshebo  1   3 , Ritbano Ahmed Abdo  3 , Sujit Kumar Behera  1 , Natarajan Gopalan  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Yilma Markos Larebo et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: Africa exhibits a considerably high prevalence of the hepatitis B virus among pregnant women. Furthermore, there is a discernible lack of a well-established surveillance system to adequately monitor and comprehend the epidemiology of the hepatitis B virus, particularly among pregnant women. The eradication efforts of the virus in Africa have been impeded by the significant disease burden in the region, and there is a lack of evidence regarding the pooled prevalence of the hepatitis B virus in Africa. Consequently, this systematic review and meta-analysis aims to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among pregnant women in Africa.

Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search using reputable databases such as PubMed, Advanced Google Scholar, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library. The search spanned from July 2013 to July 2023 and included all relevant articles published within this period. To identify potentially eligible articles, we conducted a comprehensive manual review of the reference lists of the identified studies. Our review encompassed articles from the African Journal Online. The analysis focused on observational studies published in peer-reviewed journals that reported the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen-positive testing among pregnant women. We utilized the Newcastle-Ottawa critical appraisal checklist to assess the methodological quality of each paper. Finally, a meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model.

Results: Out of the 774 studies identified, 31 studies involving 33,967 pregnant women were selected for the meta-analysis. According to the random-effects model, the combined prevalence of hepatitis B virus among pregnant women was 6.77% [95% CI: 5.72, 7.83]. The I2 statistic was calculated to be 95.57% (p = 0.00), indicating significant heterogeneity among the studies. The high I2 value of 95.57% suggests a substantial degree of heterogeneity. A subgroup meta-analysis revealed that factors such as time-dependent bias, sample size dependence, or individual variation among study participants contributed to this heterogeneity (p-difference < 0.05).

Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, the pooled prevalence of hepatitis B infection among pregnant women in Africa was found to be intermediate-high. It is recommended that policymakers implement hepatitis B virus immunization programs targeting pregnant women and their new-born babies at higher risk of exposure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. A PRISMA flow diagram showing the screening and inclusion of the studies.
Reason 1: Poor methodological quality of data. Reason 2: The full textile article is unavailable. Reason 3: Not reporting the outcome of interest.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Overall pooled prevalence of hepatitis B virus among pregnant women in Africa, 2023.
Fig 3
Fig 3. A funnel plot illustrates publication bias regarding the prevalence of hepatitis B virus among pregnant women in Africa, 2023.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Counter-enhanced funnel plots for publication bias for the prevalence of hepatitis B virus among pregnant women in Africa, 2023.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Metric inverse counter-enhanced funnel plots of publication bias for the prevalence of hepatitis B virus among pregnant women in Africa, 2023.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Sensitivity analysis for the prevalence of hepatitis B virus among pregnant women in Africa, 2023.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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