Prevalence of Aspergillus Sensitization and Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis in Adults With Bronchial Asthma: A Systematic Review of Global Data

Background

The prevalence of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) in asthmatic patients remains unclear and is likely different across geographic locales.

Objective

To systematically review the literature for estimating the prevalence of Aspergillus sensitization (AS) and ABPA in adults with bronchial asthma.

Methods

We searched the PubMed and Embase databases for studies reporting the prevalence of AS or ABPA in at least 50 asthmatic subjects. The primary outcome was to assess the prevalence of ABPA. The secondary outcome was to evaluate the prevalence of AS in asthma and that of ABPA in asthma with AS. We pooled the prevalence estimates using a random-effects model and examined the factors influencing the prevalence using multivariate meta-regression.

Results

Of the 11,801 records retrieved, 86 studies with 25,770 asthmatic subjects met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies were from tertiary care centers. The pooled prevalence of ABPA in asthma (47 studies; 9822 asthmatic subjects) was 11.3% (95% CI, 8.7-14.2). The pooled prevalence of AS in asthma (73 studies; 23,003 asthmatic subjects) was 25.1% (95% CI, 20.5-30.0), whereas the prevalence of ABPA in AS (36 studies; 2954 asthmatic subjects) was 37.0% (95% CI, 27.9-46.6). Multivariate meta-regression identified studies published from India (odds ratio, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01-1.23) as the only factor associated with higher ABPA prevalence. There was presence of significant statistical heterogeneity and publication bias.

Conclusions

We found a high prevalence of ABPA in adult asthmatic subjects, underscoring the need for screening for ABPA in all asthmatic subjects seeking tertiary care.