International Journal of Preventive Medicine (Int J Prev Med)2008-78021082019092821152115ENSocial Determinants of Health Research Center, Saveh University of Medical Sciences, SavehDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, TehranBaqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran20190903<p><span><strong>Background: </strong><span>The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of HBsAg in Health Care <span>Workers (HCWs) in Eastern Mediterranean Region Office (EMRO) and Middle Eastern countries <span>from 2000 to 2016. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><strong>Methods: </strong><span>In a meta‑analysis study, the databases of PubMed, ISI, Ovid, Scopus, <span>Google Scholar, and Persian databases were searched for relevant articles on the prevalence of <span>HBsAg in HCWs in EMRO and Middle Eastern countries. Homogeneity was assessed based on <span>Cochran’s Q‑test results. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><strong>Results: </strong><span>A total of 43 articles (110,179 people) were included. The pooled<br /><span>prevalence of HBsAg in HCWs of EMRO and Middle East countries was found 2.77% (95%CI: <span>2.64‑2.83). The specific prevalence of HBsAg was 2.84% (95% CI: 2.6‑3.11) in EMRO and <span>2.22% (95%CI: 2.13‑2.31) in Middle Eastern countries. The highest and lowest prevalence rates <span>of HBsAg among HCWs for countries with more than one study were 6.85% (95% CI: 5.74%–<span>8.16%) in Sudan and 1.00% (95% CI: 0.94%–1.07%) in Turkey, respectively. The trends of HBsAg <span>prevalence among HCWs decreased from 2000 to 2016. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><strong>Conclusions: </strong><span>Based on the World Health <span>Organization classification of HBV prevalence, intermediate HBsAg prevalence rates were detected <span>in HCWs of EMRO and Middle East countries during 2000–2016.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><strong>Keywords: </strong><span><em>Eastern Mediterranean, health care workers, hepatitis B, meta‑analysis, Middle East, </em><span><em>prevalence</em></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/view/2115http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/download/2115/717717979