Global Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence studies
PubMed 28456631 · doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2017.04.022
What was done
MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched from January 1, 1970, through January 1, 2016, for studies reporting the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection. Data were evaluated by United Nations geoscheme regions and individual countries. A random-effects model weighted by study size calculated pooled prevalence estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The 2015 prevalence estimates were extrapolated to determine the global number of infected individuals.
What was found
From 14,006 screened reports, 184 full-text articles encompassing data from 62 countries were included. Africa had the highest pooled prevalence at 70.1% (95% CI, 62.6%–77.7%), while Oceania had the lowest at 24.4% (95% CI, 18.5%–30.4%). By country, prevalence ranged from 18.9% in Switzerland (95% CI, 13.1%–24.7%) to 87.7% in Nigeria (95% CI, 83.1%–92.2%). In 2015, an estimated 4.4 billion individuals globally were infected with H pylori.
Why it matters
This study provides global baseline epidemiological figures demonstrating that over half of the world's population harbors H pylori, highlighting regions with severe infection burdens to inform eradication strategies.
Limits
Data were available for only 62 countries, leaving large global regions unrepresented. The abstract does not specify diagnostic methods used across studies, heterogeneity metrics, or potential temporal changes within individual regions over the 1970–2016 search period.
Cited by
- contradicts Approximately 80% of the human population is colonized with Helicobacter pylori.
- contradicts Eighty percent of the population has Helicobacter pylori without it causing problems.