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Table 2 Results of meta-analyses on studies reporting Neisseria gonorrhoeae prevalence in general populations, intermediate-risk populations, infertility clinic attendees, women with miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, and other populations in the Middle East and North Africa

From: Epidemiology of gonorrhea in countries of the Middle East and North Africa: systematic review, meta analyses, and meta regressions

Population typea

Stratified prevalence measures

Sample

size

NG prevalence (%)

Pooled mean NG prevalence

Heterogeneity measures

Total

n

Total

N

Range

Median

Mean (%)

(95% CI)

Qb

(p value)

I2c (%)

(95% CI)

Prediction intervald (%)

General populations

      Current urogenital infection

NAAT/PCR

39

25,592

0.0–30.0

1.0

1.5 (0.7–2.6)

779.8 (p < 0.001)

95.4 (94.1–96.0)

0.0–11.3

Culture

26

8567

0.0–20.0

0.8

1.0 (0.3–1.9)

121.6 (p < 0.001)

79.4 (70.5–85.7)

0.0–7.3

Gram stain

16

6266

0.0–40.0

3.4

5.7 (1.6–11.6)

231.0 (p < 0.001)

93.5 (90.9–95.3)

0.0–40.4

Overall

81

40,425

0.0–40.0

1.0

1.9 (1.1–2.8)

1,161.5 (p < 0.001)

93.1 (92.0–94.1)

0.0–14.5

      Unspecified/mixed anatomical site

NAAT/PCR

3

1415

0.7–1.2

0.9

0.8 (0.4–1.4)

1.1 (p = 0.576)

0.0 (0.0–89.6)

0.0–6.8

Culture

1

150

–

–

2.0 (0.4–5.7)

–

–

–

Other/unclear assaye

6

15,028

0.4–5.0

1.0

1.3 (0.2–2.9)

20.9 (p < 0.001)

76.1 (46.3–89.3)

0.0–8.3

Overall

10

16,593

0.4–5.0

1.0

1.0 (0.4–1.8)

30.8 (p < 0.001)

70.7 (44.1–84.7)

0.0–3.8

    Sera

Blood tested for IgG antibodies

3

197

0.0–2.0

0.0

0.9 (0.0–3.2)

0.81 (p = 0.667)

0.0 (0.0–89.6)

0.0–30.4

Intermediate risk populations

    Current urogenital infection

NAAT/PCR

10

3151

0.0–3.5

1.0

0.9 (0.4–1.7)

32.2 (p < 0.001)

72.1 (47.0–85.3)

0.0–4.3

Culture

3

877

0.0–0.0

0.0

0.0 (0.0–0.2)

0.11 (p = 0.948)

0.0 (0.0–89.6)

0.0–5.6

Other/unclear assaye

1

199

–

–

4.5 (2.1–8.4)

–

–

–

Overall

14

4227

0.0–4.5

0.9

0.8 (0.2–1.5)

61.3 (p < 0.001)

78.8 (65.0–87.2)

0.0–4.8

    Unspecified/mixed anatomical site

NAAT/PCR

1

400

–

–

0.5 (0.1–1.8)

–

–

–

Overall

1

400

–

–

0.5 (0.1–1.8)

–

–

–

Infertility clinic attendees

    Current urogenital infection

NAAT/PCR

15

1740

0.0–70.0

2.0

6.0 (0.7–15.3)

255.5 (p < 0.001)

94.5 (92.4–96.0)

0.0–61.4

Culture

16

1768

0.0–75.0

4.1

9.2 (2.3–19.3)

211.3 (p < 0.001)

92.9 (90.0–95.0)

0.0–65.3

Overall

31

3508

0.0–75.0

2.3

7.5 (2.8–14.0)

467.8 (p < 0.001)

93.6 (91.9–94.9)

0.0–58.6

    Unspecified/mixed anatomical site

Other/unclear assaye

1

373

–

–

14.2 (10.8–18.2)

–

–

–

Overall

1

373

–

–

14.2 (10.8–18.2)

–

–

–

    Sera

Blood tested for antibodies

1

79

–

–

2.5 (0.3–8.8)

–

–

–

Women with miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy

    Current urogenital infection

NAAT/PCR

4

339

0.0–7.6

3.4

2.8 (0.1–8.0)

14.3 (p = 0.002)

79.1 (44.1–92.2)

0.0–38.4

Culture

1

81

–

–

3.7 (0.8–10.4)

–

–

–

Overall

5

420

0.0–7.6

3.7

3.0 (0.4–7.0)

14.4 (p = 0.006)

72.3 (30.3–89.0)

0.0–21.6

    Sera

Blood tested for antibodies

2

90

0.0–13.3

6.7

4.4 (1.2–11.0)f

–

–

–

Other populationsg

    Current urogenital infection

Culture

1

72

–

–

1.4 (0.0–7.5)

–

–

–

Gram stain

1

200

–

–

2.0 (0.5–5.0)

–

–

–

Other/unclear assaye

2

4030

2.7–2.7

2.7

2.7 (2.2–3.2)f

–

–

–

Overall

4

4302

1.4–2.8

2.2

2.2 (1.7–2.7)

0.5 (p = 0.915)

0.0 (0.0–84.7)

1.2–3.3

    Sera

Blood tested for antibodies

2

258

2.3–11.1

6.7

3.5 (1.6–6.5)f

–

–

–

  1. Abbreviations: CI Confidence interval, NAAT Nucleic acid amplification test, NG Neisseria gonorrhoeae, PCR Polymerase chain reaction
  2. A minimum of three studies were required to conduct a meta-analysis
  3. Bolded numbers represent overall pooled estimates
  4. a Population type classification can be found in Table 1
  5. bQ: The Cochran’s Q statistic is a measure assessing the existence of heterogeneity in pooled outcome measures, here NG prevalence
  6. cI2: A measure that assesses the magnitude of between-study variation that is due to actual differences in NG prevalence across studies rather than chance
  7. dPrediction interval: A measure that estimates the distribution (95% interval) of true NG prevalence around the estimated mean
  8. eOther/unclear assay include enzyme immunoassay, indirect hemagglutination, or mixed/unclear testing technique
  9. fTwo prevalence measures are not sufficient to conduct a random-effects meta-analysis. The pooled measure was calculated as the arithmetic mean of the two measures and their 95% confidence intervals
  10. gOther populations include populations with an undetermined risk of acquiring NG infection such as victims of sexual assault and mixed populations, among others
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BMC Global and Public Health

ISSN: 2731-913X

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