Prevalence of positive HBsAg in adults: A rural community study in China

Objective To determine the prevalence of positive HBsAg in adults in rual Deqing, Zhejiang Province of China. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in four rural communities in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, China. A toal of 4 434 subjects aged 18 to 64 years old participated in the questionnaire study, provided a 5 mL blood specimen and had a satisfactory measure of HBsAg. HBsAg was measured by ELISA. The Student t test was used for continuous variables such as age and the Chi-square test for category variables such as the prevalence in SPSS 11.0. Results The crude prevalence of positive HBsAg was 7. 3%. The age-standardized prevalence was 8. 0% and was significantly higher in men than in women (8. 8% vs 6.2%, x2 = 10.52, P = 0. 001). Conclusions The prevalence of positive HBsAg in adults aged 18 to 64 years old in rual China was high.