Global burden and influencing factors of gastrointestinal diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background/objective Gastrointestinal diseases are significant public health conditions affecting millions globally. This review aims to meta-analyzed the pooled prevalence estimates and influencing factors of gastrointestinal diseases. Materials/methods We systematically searched PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science Core Collection, Medline, and Embase for relevant published peer-reviewed papers from 1990 to 2023. We used a random-effects model to calculate the overall prevalence rate of gastrointestinal diseases, checked for differences between studies using I 2 statistics, and performed subgroup and sensitivity analyses with Stata version 18. This review adheres to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses and was registered with PROSPERO under the identifier CRD42024599658. You can access the registration details through: ( https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024599658 ). Results This systematic review and meta-analysis included 58 observational studies involving a total of 88,454,813 participants from 25 countries across six global regions. Our analysis estimated the global prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases at 19.00% (95% CI: 13.00–27.00, I 2 = 73.98%). Regionally, the highest prevalence was observed in North America at 31.00% (95% CI: 7.00–61.00, I 2 = 73.96%), followed by Africa at 30.00% (95% CI: 18.00–43.00, I 2 = 33.41%), Europe at 22.00% (95% CI: 13.00–33.00, I 2 = 23.47%), and South America at 20.00% (95% CI: 2.00–50.00, I 2 = 51.46%). In contrast, Asia exhibited the lowest prevalence at 14.00% (95% CI: 6.00–24.00, I 2 = 74.19%). When stratified by specific types of gastrointestinal diseases, giardiasis showed the highest prevalence rate at 38.90% (95% CI: 36.16–41.64, I 2 = 79.70%), followed by hemorrhoids at 23.00% (95% CI: 7.00–38.00, I 2 = 49.64%). Diarrhea had a prevalence of 22.00% (95% CI: 1.83–60.00, I 2 = 51.86%), gastroesophageal reflux disease had a prevalence of 15.00% (95% CI: 9.00–23.00, I 2 = 59.90%) and gastroschisis had a prevalence of 7.50% (95% CI: 1.77–28.23, I 2 = 73.49%). In contrast, both gallstones and acute gastrointestinal illness exhibited lower polled prevalence rates of 6.00% (95% CI: 1.12–11.00, I 2 = 61.46%) and 6.00% (95% CI: 2.00–12.00, I 2 = 39.69%), respectively. Furthermore, our meta-analysis identified several factors influencing the occurrence of gastrointestinal diseases, including a history of gastrointestinal disease (OR = 5.35, 95% CI: 3.15–7.55), alcohol consumption (OR = 2.84, 95% CI: 1.38–4.29), unsafe drinking water (OR = 2.68, 95% CI: 1.90–4.46), age ≥ 40 years (OR = 2.66, 95% CI: 1.96–3.37), and BMI ≥ 25 (OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.69–2.83). Additional risk factors included the presence of children under 10 years (OR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.39–2.86), a history of smoking (OR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.66–2.42), being of female gender (OR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.50–1.67), and a history of diabetes (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.22–1.68). Conclusion The global burden of gastrointestinal diseases is notably high, with significant variations across regions and types of gastrointestinal diseases. This variation underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions that address not only the burden of these diseases but also the influencing factors associated with their prevalence.