Korean J Prev Med.  2002 May;35(2):129-135.

A Study on the Seropositivity of HBsAg among Biennial Health Examinees: A Nation-wide Multicenter Survey

• Kim DS
• Kim YS
• Kim JY
• Ahn YO

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of HBsAg-positives in the late 1990's among Korean adults. In addition, we evaluated the association of age, a residential area, a vaccination rate, a family history of chronic liver diseases and a past history of acute liver disease with the seropositivity of HBsAg, and estimated the prevalence of chronic HBV infection by follow-up for 6 month or more.
METHODS
A total of 10 areas, six metropolitan and four small cities, were selected. In each cities, one health screening center was selected for recruitment of study subjects. The study subjects were enrolled from a general health examination program that is provided by medical insurance companies. Questionnaires on various risk factors were administered to the study subjects. Sera was drawn and tested for HBsAg by radioimmunoassay. HBeAg and ALT were also tested for those of HBsAg positive. The HBsAg positives was retest for HBsAg 6 months later.
RESULTS
Among the study subjects (n= 1816), the seroprevalence of HBsAg was 5.5% (95% CI= 4.5%-6.6%), 7.4% in men (95% CI= 5.8-9.4) and 3.6% in women (95% CI= 2.5-5.0). A past history of acute liver disease and a family history of chronic liver diseases was shown to be risk factors for HBsAg positivity. Among the 31 HBsAg-positives, negative seroconversion rate was estimated to be 3.2 %, Thus, prevalence of chronic HBV infection was estimated to be 5.3% (95% CI= 3.7-6.6).
CONCLUSION
In this study, the HBsAg seroprevalence rate was lower than that of the other studies in 1980's, particularly in young adult and women. Considering the public health importance of liver cancer and chronic liver diseases, the further effort is needed to prevent and reduce the HBV infection.

Keyword

Prevalence; Chronic Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; Hepatitis B e Antigens; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Korea

MeSH Terms

Adult
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Hepatitis B e Antigens
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens*
Hepatitis B, Chronic
Humans
Insurance
Korea
Liver Diseases
Liver Neoplasms
Male
Mass Screening
Prevalence
Public Health
Surveys and Questionnaires
Radioimmunoassay
Risk Factors
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Vaccination
Young Adult
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
Hepatitis B e Antigens