Table 2.
Subgroup analysis of the prevalence of HPV infection in female sex workers
| Characteristics | Categories | No. of Studies | Pooled prevalence (%) (95% CI) | Heterogeneity test I2%, p-value |
Differences between subgroups; χ2 test (p-value) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 61 | 42.6 (38.5–46.7) | 96.9%, P < 0.0001 | ||
| Diagnostic method | PCR | 46 | 43.2 (37.8–48.8) | 97.0%, P < 0.01 | P = 0.02† |
| Hybridization | 7 | 41.4 (32.4–51.1) | 96.2%, P < 0.01 | ||
| PCR-Hybridization | 3 | 40.9 (37.7–44.2) | 58.4%, P = 0.09 | ||
| TMA | 4 | 31.8 (26.6–37.6) | 75.0%, P < 0.01 | ||
| Sample type | Cervical | 50 | 41.9 (37.6–46.4) | 96.6%, P < 0.01 | P = 0.04† |
| Endocervical | 4 | 31.1 (21.1–43.4) | 92.1%, P < 0.01 | ||
| Vaginal | 3 | 68.4 (37.7–88.5) | 99.2%, P < 0.01 | ||
| Cervico-vaginal | 2 | 46.2 (40.2–52.2) | 0%, P = 0.65 | ||
| Diagnostic index | L1 gene | 26 | 45.1 (38.0–52.3) | 96.9%, P < 0.01 | P < 0.0001† |
| E6/E7 mRNA transcripts | 4 | 31.8 (26.6–37.6) | 75.0%, P < 0.01 | ||
| E6 gene | 1 | 75.7 (70.5–80.3) | NA, NA | ||
| E6/E7 genes | 1 | 26.0 (18.3–35.4) | NA, NA | ||
| Study year | 1992–2009 | 24 | 43.6 (36.1–51.4) | 97%, P < 0.01 | P = 0.71 |
| 2010–2019 | 37 | 41.9 (37.2–46.8) | 97%, P < 0.01 |
NA Not applicable, PCR Polymerase chain reaction, TMA Transcription-mediated amplification;
† Statistically significant