The prevalence of Vitiligo and its associated risk factors in the middle East and Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Vitiligo is a prevalent chronic autoimmune skin disorder. However, the data about its prevalence and risk factors in the Middle East (ME) and Africa is scarce. Thus, we decided to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the prevalence and risk factors of vitiligo in the ME and African regions. On the 25th of June 2023 a systematic search of the following database: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences and Cochrane was conducted. All articles were included if they were observational studies that reported the prevalence or risk factors of any type of Vitiligo in one or more ME or African countries with no restriction to the type of vitiligo, age group, or gender. The total number of the included participants was 226,115 from 38 studies. The overall prevalence of vitiligo was 3 % (95 %CI: 2 %-4 %) while the prevalence among males and females were 1 % (95 %CI: 1 %-2 %) and 1 % (95 %CI: 1 %-2 %), respectively. The prevalence among pediatrics was 2 % (95 %CI: 1 %-2 %) while it was 10 % (95 %CI: 7 %-13 %) among adults. The models showed that the prevalence of vitiligo in Africa was 3 % (95 %CI: 1 %-4 %) while the pooled prevalence of vitiligo in Arabian countries was 2 % (95 %CI: 1 %-3 %). Sub-group analysis according to the year of publication showed that the pooled prevalence before 2010 was 3 % (95 %CI: 2 %-4 %). On the other hand, the pooled prevalence after 2010 was 2 % (95 %CI: 1 %-4 %). Clinicians should pay attention to the high prevalence of vitiligo and the characteristics of vitiligo patients. Also, governmental efforts should be taken to increase the awareness about vitiligo in the ME and African countries to increase early diagnosis and management of the disease resulting in better outcomes.