Prevalence of oral human papillomavirus infection in African countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

This meta-analysis aimed to provide pooled overall prevalence estimates of oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in Africa. A literature search for cross-sectional studies was conducted until January 2025. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale assessed the methodological quality. Random-effects model estimated the pooled prevalence of oral HPV infection. Sub-group analyses were conducted using study characteristics as covariates. Thirty-three studies involving 4.607 participants from 9 countries were included. Prevalence of oral HPV infection ranged between 0% to 95.1%, with a pooled overall estimate of 15.8%. The studies exhibited considerable heterogeneity (I2 = 99.3%). Subgroup analyses revealed the highest prevalence among participants with head and neck cancer (19.9%), from sub-Saharan area (19.2%), female (17.3%), moderate-low-quality studies (16.7%), and in HIV-positive (5.8%). High-quality studies with an accurate collection of the risk factors are needed for tailoring programs and health-care policies to prevent and control oral HPV infection and associated diseases.

Keywords: Africa; meta-analysis; mouth diseases; oral human papillomavirus infection; prevalence; systematic review.