Data_Sheet_7_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.PDF

IntroductionThe 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.
MethodsWe 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.
ResultsWe 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%.
ConclusionAfrica 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 RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42021279905.

引言
乙型肝炎病毒（hepatitis B virus, HBV）是一种经血液传播的病毒，可通过经皮及黏膜接触受感染的体液进行传播。医护人员（healthcare workers, HCWs）感染HBV的风险更高，其既可能感染该病毒，也可成为病毒传播媒介，因此需全面掌握HBV感染相关知识。本研究系统梳理了已发表的关于医护人员HBV感染血清流行率的全部证据，并整合了知识与认知水平同HBV感染之间关联的相关研究结果。

方法
本研究于1997年1月至2021年9月期间，在PubMed、EMBASE、Cochrane Library及Scopus数据库中检索报道医护人员HBV血清流行率的相关研究。采用随机效应meta分析估算HBV感染的合并患病率。

结果
本研究共纳入符合纳入标准的25项研究，涉及来自11个国家及非洲、亚洲2个地区的10043名成年人。HBV总体血清流行率为5.0%（95%置信区间[CI] 3.6%），其中非洲地区的估算值（5.0%，95%CI 3.7%）高于亚洲人群（4.0%，95%CI 1.9%）。非洲国家中合并患病率最高的研究来自喀麦隆地区（8.0%，95%CI 5%~10%），最低的来自埃塞俄比亚（4.0%，95%CI 2.6%）。非洲人群的总体血清流行率显著高于亚洲人群。
非洲地区的研究显示，其知识认知平均水平与血清流行率分别为1.4%与11.0%；其中8项研究（53.3%）报告医护人员具备良好知识水平，7项研究（46.7%）报告为中等知识水平。亚洲地区的研究中，2项研究（40.0%）报告良好知识水平，1项研究（20.0%）为中等知识水平，2项研究（40.0%）为较差知识水平。尽管非洲地区医护人员的HBV感染率高于6.7%，但其知识认知水平仍表现良好。

结论
非洲与亚洲地区的HBV感染血清流行率处于较高水平。提升流行病学与临床研究的可比性是未来重要的研究方向。当前仍需更多高质量数据以提高疾病负担估算的精准度。

系统评价注册
PROSPERO CRD42021279905.