Systematic reviewsGeneral gynecologyThe global epidemiology of bacterial vaginosis: a systematic review
Section snippets
Methods
A search was conducted in the PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases in April 2012. Search terms included “bacterial vaginosis,” “bacterial vaginitis,” “bacterial vaginoses,” “epidemiology,” “incidence,” and “prevalence.” This resulted in the retrieval of 1692 articles. Cited references were also assessed for inclusion. Articles in English, French, Spanish, and Polish were considered for inclusion. No date restrictions were applied. Studies were then selected according to a 3-step process.
Results
Comparisons of the prevalence of BV by geographic area or country are hampered by a number of factors including differences in how the samples were selected and differences in the type of population surveyed–such as age composition and pregnancy. Despite these difficulties, certain trends are apparent.
Comment
This study represents an attempt at describing the geographic and ethnic patterning of BV globally. The advent of a standardized diagnostic process in the form of NSS has made this possible. There are, however, a number of limitations with the study. Firstly, this study described large gaps in the literature. There are large populations in the world, such as China, where the prevalence of BV has not been evaluated by the NSS. In other parts of the world, there are no published reports on BV
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The authors report no conflict of interest.