Prevalence of early childhood caries in South Africa: a systematic review

BMC Oral Health

Table 3 Pooled prevalence per age group, year period and urban or rural status in South Africa from 1978–2019

	Number of studies	Cases	Sample size	Random pooled prevalance	95% CI (%)
Overall		13,904	29,477	44.94	39.73–50.15
Age
1	5	105	731	21.48	0.090–33.95
2	9	670	2130	31.71	24.49–38.92
3	12	1360	3575	43.37	31.89–54.84
4	14	3592	7067	49.58	38.49–60.67
5	14	2205	5159	51.72	36.67–66.78
< 6	9	5972	11,143	52.60	46.58–58.61
Year period
1978–1979	6	2115	3622	57.37	46.48–68.25
1980–1984	3	3234	6398	39.31	28.39–50.24
1985–1989	4	1941	4967	36.38	21.70–45.65
1990–1994	2	743	3230	23.08	14.59–1.57
1995–1999	5	4423	9029	40.80	32.14–49.47
2000–2004	2	223	442	48.38	34.63–60.33
2005–2009	1	129	269	45.04	26.89–63.19
2010–2014	5	1096	1848	61.75	52.93–70.57
Urban or rural
Rural	8	1344	2780	47.40	41.13–53.67
Urban	16	7274	16,543	43.72	36.56–50.89
Urban/rural	3	5286	10,482	48.22	37.80–58.63
Province
Limpopo	2	282	733	37.36	33.90–40.82
Gauteng	21	9901	22,297	43.10	37.01–49.20
Kwazulu Natal	2	1069	2017	53.04	50.87–55.22
Western Cape	2	1166	1649	73.39	66.59–80.19
Eastern Cape	1	122	228	53.51	47.03–59.87
Free State	1	532	885	60.11	56.85–63.29
North West	1	418	1019	41.02	38.04–44.07
Mpumalanga	2	414	977	43.76	32.85–54.66

ISSN: 1472-6831