Abstract

Background: Though cervical cancer is largely preventable, it is still the second most common female cancer globally and the leading cause of cancer deaths among females in African. Though many efforts have been done to study the burden of the disease in Ethiopia, primary studies examining prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion are fragmented. Hence, this systematic review and meta-analysis is aimed at estimating the pooled prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion and its trends in Ethiopia.

Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using available data. PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, Science Direct, Google Scholar, African Index Medicus (AIM), African Journals Online databases and Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar Universities research repositories were searched following the Preferred Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) Guideline. STATA 15 statistical software was used to analyse the data. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) quality appraisal tool for meta-analysis. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed using Cochrane Q Test and I² Test Statistics based on the random effects model. A random effect model was computed to estimate the pooled prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion in Ethiopia. Finally, the trend of precancerous cervical lesion in the country was depicted.

Result: Fifteen studies with a total of 25,348 participants were included in the analysis. The pooled prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion was 16.36% (95 CI: 10.97-21.75). The subgroup analysis by region showed the highest prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion at the Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples Region (19.65%; 95% CI: 15.51 – 23.80).  The trend of precancerous cervical lesion prevalence showed an increased pattern overtime.

Conclusion: One among six of the study participants had precancerous cervical lesion. The trend also showed that there is still an increasing precancerous cervical lesion in Ethiopia. Best practices in achieving high vaccination coverage shall be informed by practices in other successful countries.

Key words: Cervical cancer, cervical lesion, precancerous, systematic review, Ethiopia