Global Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Study

Objectives: Pregnant women are among the most vulnerable groups for Helicobacter pylori infection. The infection may cause nausea, vomiting, anemia, fetal growth restriction, fetal anomalies and low birth weight of infants. H. pylori prevalence during pregnancy is vary widely between different geographical regions and given the importance of this infection in pregnancy, systematic review and meta-analysis has been done. Materials and Methods: The current study has been conducted based on PRISMA guideline. The time interval of the investigated studies was from the beginning of 2000 until March 2016. In order to achieve the related literature, databases sources such as Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane, Embase, Springer, Wiley online library, as well as Google Scholar search engine was used. The search was done using Mesh keywords. Furthermore, all the articles that met the inclusion criteria were evaluated. The data has been analyzed using the random-effects models for meta-analysis and the Stata 11.1. Results: In 24 studies, a total of 19426 pregnant women had been investigated. The worldwide prevalence of H. pylori infection in pregnant women was calculated to be 46% (95% CI: 38-54). The lowest prevalence of H. pylori infection was seen in Europe, 25% (95% CI: 9-40) and the highest prevalence in South America 62% (95% CI: 53-71). Conclusion: This meta-analysis shows that about half of the pregnant women worldwide are infected with H. pylori and the prevalence of this infection in South America and Africa is far more than other continents.