Table.
Characteristics of the study population
| Total number of studies | Number of participants evaluated for occult HBV infection* | Median of mean ages in individual studies† | Median of proportions of males in individual studies‡ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | ||||
| All studies | 375 | 140 521 993 | 49 (37–55) | 62% (51–76) |
| Publication year | ||||
| 2010–14 | 198 (53%) | 69 452 684 (49%) | 48 (37–56) | 60% (50–75) |
| 2015–19 | 177 (47%) | 71 069 309 (51%) | 49 (38–58) | 62% (52–77) |
| Population groups | ||||
| Blood donors | 133 (35%) | 140 477 551 (>99%) | 31 (30–35) | 88% (77–95) |
| Other low-risk groups (ie, general population, healthy health-care workers, pregnant women) | 19 (5%) | 3840 (<1%) | 38 (37–40) | 34% (4–40) |
| High-risk populations due to risk of exposure (HIV, HCV, haemodialysis) | 76 (20%) | 11284 (<1%) | 50 (45–55) | 59% (49–64) |
| People with advanced chronic liver disease (ie, hepatocellular carcinoma or cirrhosis) | 33 (9%) | 1892 (<1%) | 59 (54–65) | 74% (68–79) |
| All other populations that did not fit into any of the above categories | 114 (30%) | 27 426 (<1%) | 44 (36–52) | 56% (50–73) |
| WHO region | ||||
| African Region | 24 (6%) | 453 673 (<1%) | 37 (35–39) | 45% (27–68) |
| Region of the Americas | 45 (12%) | 22 476 271 (16%) | 49 (36–53) | 58% (51–76) |
| Eastern Mediterranean Region | 80 (21%) | 178 909 (<1%) | 46 (36–52) | 65% (56–78) |
| European Region | 70 (19%) | 26 890 013 (19%) | 49 (43–61) | 59% (48–67) |
| South-East Asian Region | 34 (9%) | 1 147 862 (1%) | 40 (32–45) | 75% (56–89) |
| Western Pacific Region | 121 (32%) | 78 402 117 (56%) | 57 (51–64) | 60% (48–70) |
| Mixed | 1 (<1%) | 10 973 148 (8%) | NA | NA |
| Endemicity | ||||
| Low (HBsAg <2·00%) | 186 (50%) | 102 768 261 (73%) | 49 (37–55) | 63% (54–76) |
| Intermediate (HBsAg 2·00–4·99%) | 78 (21%) | 1 381 653 (1%) | 45 (38–58) | 63% (48–77) |
| High (HBsAg ≥5·00%) | 106 (28%) | 24 341 416 (17%) | 50 (39–55) | 54% (37–66) |
| Mixed countries | 5 (1%) | 12 030 663 (9%) | NA | NA |
Data are n (%) or median (IQR). HBV=hepatitis B virus. HCV=hepatitis C virus. NA=not available.
The number of participants evaluated for occult HBV infection using nucleic acid testing is a subset of the number of participants recruited to the study.
Data on age were pooled from 92 studies that reported mean age for all recruited participants irrespective of HBsAg status, and 44 studies that only recruited known HBsAg-negative individuals and reported the mean age for these participants; data on age for the subset of participants evaluated for occult HBV infection using nucleic acid testing were very scarce and are therefore not shown here.
Data on sex were pooled from 119 studies that reported sex for all recruited participants irrespective of HBsAg status, and 60 studies that only recruited known HBsAg-negative individuals and reported sex for these participants; data on age for the subset of participants evaluated for occult HBV infection using nucleic acid testing were very scarce and are therefore not shown here.