Zheng Bingbing, Yin Dapeng, Geng Yifan, Li Qiao, Cao Wenting, Yin Mingzhang, Ning Yi, Petersen Jindong Ding
School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571199, Hainan Province, China.
Hainan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Haikou, 571129, China.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Apr 22;25(1):1494. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22703-6.
Previous studies have documented variations in herpes zoster (HZ) incidence across regions and periods. We aimed to synthesize data on HZ incidence, complications, and associated healthcare costs (inpatient and outpatient) in the Chinese population aged 50 years and older over the last two decades.
We searched studies published in English between January 1, 2000, and March 31, 2023 in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, EBSCO, OVID, and Web of Science, supplemented by Chinese databases CNKI, Wan Fang, CQVIP, and Yiigle. Main search terms included 'Herpes Zoster', 'Herpesvirus 3, Human', 'Neuralgia Postherpetic', 'incidence', 'morbidity', 'epidemiology', 'complication', 'health care cost', 'expenditure', 'economic', and 'burden'. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality tool and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale were used for quality assessment.
Of 6,958 studies, 19 (73,044,981 total population) were included for analysis (1,107,682 HZ cases, mean age 63.03 ± 8.30 years, 47.10% male). The pooled annual HZ incidence from 13 studies (2 with high quality, 11 with medium quality) from 2000 to 2020 was 6.28 per 1000 PYs (95%CI: 5.42, 7.15), with a significant increasing trend over the period (meta-regression coefficient: 0.0031, 95%CI: 0.0027, 0.0036), and more pronounced among females and those with advancing age. Neuralgia system disorders were the most frequently reported complications, followed by ear and eye diseases. Furthermore, HZ-associated inpatient costs showed a 4.4-fold dramatic increases, rising from 3260 RMB in 2010-2012 to 14,303 RMB per patient in 2017-2018, while outpatient costs remained growth from 336 RMB to 1329 RMB.
Despite the medium overall quality of the studies, our findings highlight an urgent need for effective public health strategies including vaccine aimed at reducing HZ incidence and associated healthcare costs in China.
既往研究记录了带状疱疹（HZ）发病率在不同地区和时期的差异。我们旨在综合过去二十年中国50岁及以上人群中HZ发病率、并发症及相关医疗费用（住院和门诊）的数据。
我们检索了2000年1月1日至2023年3月31日期间在PubMed、Cochrane图书馆、Embase、EBSCO、OVID和Web of Science上发表的英文研究，并辅以中国数据库CNKI、万方、维普和医脉通。主要检索词包括“带状疱疹”、“人疱疹病毒3型”、“带状疱疹后神经痛”、“发病率”、“发病率”、“流行病学”、“并发症”、“医疗费用”、“支出”、“经济”和“负担”。使用医疗保健研究与质量机构工具和纽卡斯尔-渥太华量表进行质量评估。
在6958项研究中，纳入19项（总人口73044981）进行分析（1107682例HZ病例，平均年龄63.03±8.30岁，男性占47.10%）。2000年至2020年13项研究（2项高质量，11项中等质量）的汇总年HZ发病率为每1000人年6.28例（95%CI：5.42，7.15），在此期间有显著上升趋势（元回归系数：0.0031，95%CI：0.0027，0.0036），在女性和年龄较大者中更为明显。神经系统疾病是最常报告的并发症，其次是耳部和眼部疾病。此外，与HZ相关的住院费用大幅增加了4.4倍，从2010 - 2012年的3260元人民币升至2017 - 2018年的每位患者14303元人民币，而门诊费用则从336元人民币增长至1329元人民币。
尽管研究的总体质量中等，但我们的研究结果凸显了迫切需要有效的公共卫生策略，包括疫苗接种，以降低中国的HZ发病率和相关医疗费用。
