Global burden and trends of the Entamoeba infection-associated diseases from 1990 to 2019: An observational trend study

Abstract

Background: Entamoeba infection-associated diseases (EIADs) in humans are a worldwide public health problem, but there is a lack of a global picture of EIADs, which is vital to prevention and control.

Methods: We applied 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data collected from multiple sources at global, national and regional levels. The disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (95% UIs) were extracted as the main measure of the burden of EIADs. The Joinpoint regression model was used to estimate the trends of age-standardised DALY rates by age, sex, geographical region, and sociodemographic index (SDI). Besides, a generalized linear model was conducted to analyze the influence of sociodemographic factors on the DALY rate of EIADs.

Results: In 2019, there were 2,539,799 (95% UI 850,865-6,186,972) DALY cases attributable to Entamoeba infection, and the global age-standardised DALY rate of EIADs was 36.77/100,000 (95% UI: 12.03-90.49). Although over the past 30 years, the age-standardised DALY rate of EIADs presented significantly declining trends [average annual percent change (AAPC) = -3.79%, 95% CI: -4.05% - -3.53%], it has remained a heavy burden among the age group of <5 years (257.43/100,000, 95% UI: 67.73-676.78) and the low SDI regions (100.47/100,000, 95% UI: 32.27-249.09). The age-standardized DALY rate in high-income North America and Australia had an increasing trend (AAPC = 0.38%, 95% CI: 0.47% - 0.28% and 0.38%, 95% CI: 0.46% - 0.29%, respectively). Furthermore, the DALY rates in high SDI regions showed statistically significant increasing trends among the age groups of 14-49, 50-69 years and 70+ years, with AAPCs of 1.01% (95% CI: 0.87% - 1.15%), 1.58% (95% CI: 1.43% - 1.73%), and 2.93% (95% CI: 2.58% - 3.29%), respectively.

Conclusions: Over the past 30 years, the burden of EIADs has declined significantly. However, it has still caused a high burden in the low SDI regions and the age group of <5 years. At the same time, in adults and the elderly of the high SDI regions, the increasing trends of Entamoeba infection-associated burden should also be given more attention.

Keywords: Entamoeba; Epidemiology; Global Burden of Disease; Global trend analysis; Sociodemographic factors.