The frequency, related cause of disease, and treatment of hepatitis B virus infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis in Iran

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most dreadful viruses causing high mortality rates and serious damages to hepatocytes. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency, related causes/risk factors, and treatments of HBV infection in Iran by systematic review and meta‑analysis.

The data were obtained by a literature search in the PubMed, Scopus, SID, and Web of Sciences databases. Keywords included prevalence, risk factors, causes, treatment, and HBV. The Persian equivalents of these keywords were also searched. The time span included 2004 to2021. The Q and I2 statistics were used to check heterogeneity among studies. The data were analyzed using Stata (version 14).

The frequencies of HBV infection and its pharmaceutical therapy were P = 6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4–9, I2 = 95.2%, P < 0.001) and 19% (95% CI: 18%–30%, I2 = 98.9%, P < 0.001), respectively. The most common risk factors/causes of HBV were narcotic consumption, blood‑related factors, and transmission from infected individuals with the respective frequencies of 27% (95% CI: 16%–38%, I2 = 88.7%, P < 0.001), 32% (95% CI: 11%–53%, I2 = 99.8%, P < 0.001), 25% (95% CI: 10%–41%, I2 = 99.3%, P < 0.001), and 15% (95% CI: 7%–22%, I2 = 98.4%, P < 0.001), respectively.

The most important causes of HBV infection were transmission from infected people, narcotic consumption, and blood‑related factors. The main therapeutic intervention for HBV was pharmaceutical therapy.