Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32010734›Full record

ReviewOpen forum infectious diseases2020

Risk Factors for Herpes Zoster Infection: A Meta-Analysis.

Fawziah Marra, Kamalpreet Parhar, Bill Huang, Nirma Vadlamudi

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Open forum infectious diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 176 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
176citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
21.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

176 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 309 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Global herpes zoster burden in adults with COPD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Efficacy ofTransboundary and emerging diseases · 2024
    Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
  10. Pooled it
  11. Pooled it
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Observational
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Observational
  19. Varicella zoster virus infection.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026
    Review
  20. Article

116 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Fawziah MarraFaculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Kamalpreet ParharFaculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Bill HuangFaculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Nirma VadlamudiFaculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-5513-7926
University of British Columbia · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe burden of herpes zoster (HZ) is significant worldwide, with millions affected and the incidence rising. Current literature has identified some risk factors for this disease; however, there is yet to be a comprehensive study that pools all evidence to provide estimates of risk. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify various risk factors, excluding immunosuppressive medication, that may predispose an individual to developing HZ.

methodsThe literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central, yielding case control, cohort, and cross-sectional studies that were pooled from January 1966 to September 2017. Search terms included the following:

resultsFrom a total of 4417 identified studies, 88 were included in analysis (N = 3, 768 691 HZ cases). Immunosuppression through human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (RR = 3.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.40-4.33) or malignancy (RR = 2.17; 95% CI, 1.86-2.53) significantly increased the risk of HZ compared with controls. Family history was also associated with a greater risk (RR = 2.48; 95% CI, 1.70-3.60), followed by physical trauma (RR = 2.01; 95% CI, 1.39-2.91) and older age (RR = 1.65; 95% CI, 1.37-1.97). A slightly smaller risk was seen those with psychological stress, females, and comorbidities such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, renal disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, and inflammatory bowel disease compared with controls (RR range, 2.08-1.23). We found that black race had lower rates of HZ development (RR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.56-0.85).

conclusionsThis study demonstrated a number of risk factors for development of HZ infection. However, many of these characteristics are known well in advance by the patient and clinician and may be used to guide discussions with patients for prevention by vaccination.

Indexed as

ageherpes zosterimmunocompromisedmeta-analysisrisk factors

Identifiers

PMID32010734
PMCPMC6984676
OpenAlexW2998977499

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.