Table 1. Key study characteristics.
Percentages are listed of the studies that specified this characteristic. The total number of studies extracted was 192. In all variables apart from Schistosoma species and sex of participants, categorisations are not mutually exclusive and therefore percentages may not sum to 100%.
| Study characteristic | Number reported | Category/Statistic | Value | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study aim | 192 | Diagnostic agreement | 44 | 22.9% |
| Prevalence | 37 | 19.3% | ||
| Clinical severity | 29 | 15.1% | ||
| Intervention | 28 | 14.6% | ||
| Risk factors | 27 | 14.1% | ||
| Immunological profiling | 21 | 10.9% | ||
| Liver function | 17 | 8.9% | ||
| Co-infections | 17 | 8.9% | ||
| Genetic/genomic | 9 | 4.7% | ||
| Pathogenesis | 8 | 4.2% | ||
| Age of participants | 181 | Pre-school age children | 27 | 14.9% |
| School-age children | 94 | 51.9% | ||
| Adults | 165 | 91.1% | ||
| Range (years) | 0–97 | - | ||
| Sex of participants | 189 | No restriction | 185 | 97.9% |
| Male-only | 3 | 1.6% | ||
| Female-only | 1 | 0.5% | ||
| Sample size | 192 | Total | 122798 | - |
| Mean (std. dev.) | 640 (2168) | - | ||
| Range | 8–22488 | - | ||
| Interquartile range | 79.5–487.5 | - | ||
| Study duration | 107 | Mean (std. dev.) (months) | 24.9 (43.4) | - |
| Range (months) | 1–300 | - | ||
| Study sittings | 192 | One | 159 | 82.8% |
| Two | 16 | 8.3% | ||
| Three | 10 | 5.2% | ||
| More than three | 7 | 3.6% | ||
| Study setting | 180 | Community | 110 | 61.1% |
| Hospital | 66 | 36.7% | ||
| School | 10 | 5.6% | ||
| Study locality | 181 | Rural | 123 | 68.0% |
| Peri-urban | 9 | 5.0% | ||
| Urban | 55 | 30.4% | ||
| Study design | 192 | Cross-sectional | 165 | 85.9% |
| Before-and-after | 19 | 9.9% | ||
| Cohort | 11 | 5.7% | ||
| Case-control | 3 | 1.6% | ||
| Randomised controlled trial | 2 | 1.0% | ||
| Sampling strategy | 151 | Purposive | 78 | 51.7% |
| Random | 30 | 19.9% | ||
| Convenience | 19 | 12.6% | ||
| Census | 15 | 9.9% | ||
| Systematic | 8 | 5.3% | ||
| Stratified | 3 | 2.0% | ||
| Schistosoma species | 192 | S. mansoni | 149 | 77.6% |
| S. japonicum | 41 | 21.3% | ||
| S. mekongi | 2 | 1.0% |