Question · asked by 1 review
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence): Early childhood caries (ECC)
- Population
- Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa
- Intervention
- Not applicable (single-group prevalence)
- Comparison
- Not applicable (single-group prevalence)
- Outcome
- Early childhood caries (ECC)
Pooled ECC prevalence in Tunisia was 38% (95% CI 24-51), significantly lower than Egypt and Sudan.
What each review found
Include earlier review versionsNo studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 10 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%
| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · Tunisia, Country: Tunisia Pooled ECC prevalence in Tunisia was 38% (95% CI 24-51), significantly lower than Egypt and Sudan. Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 38 [24, 51] | 4 studies | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · North Africa, Sample size <500 Studies with <500 participants reported a lower pooled ECC prevalence (48%, 95% CI 39-58). Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 48 [39, 58] | 9 studies | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · Sudan, Country: Sudan Pooled ECC prevalence in Sudan was 63% (95% CI 52-74). Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 63 [52, 74] | 3 studies | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · North Africa, Sample size >500 Studies with >=500 participants reported a higher pooled ECC prevalence (65%, 95% CI 55-75). Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 65 [55, 75] | 9 studies | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · North Africa, Publication-bias adjusted (trim-and-fill) After trim-and-fill adjustment for publication bias, the pooled ECC prevalence was 62% (95% CI 58-81). Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 62 [58, 81] | Not reported | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · Egypt, Country: Egypt Pooled ECC prevalence in Egypt was 62% (95% CI 53-70). Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 62 [53, 70] | 10 studies | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Morocco); community, school, and hospital-based, Overall (all included studies) The pooled prevalence of ECC in North African children aged 0-5 years was 57% (95% CI 50-64), with very high heterogeneity (I2=98.6%). Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 57 [50, 64] | 18 studies · 11319 participants | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · North Africa, Sampling: convenience Convenience-sampling studies gave a pooled ECC prevalence of 60% (CI not reported in main text). Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 60 | 4 studies | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · North Africa, Sampling: stratified/multistage cluster Stratified/multistage cluster sampling studies gave a pooled ECC prevalence of 50% (95% CI 40-61); sampling technique was not a significant moderator. Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 50 [40, 61] | 9 studies | GRADE not reported |
Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) Early childhood caries (ECC), prevalence · Children aged 0-5 years in North Africa · North Africa, Sampling: simple random Simple-random-sampling studies gave a pooled ECC prevalence of 67% (CI not reported in main text). Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025) All outcomes | Prevalence 67 | 5 studies | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prevalence and risk factors for early childhood caries in North Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025 All outcomes | March 2025 | 18 | Not applicable |
Related questions
The same intervention and outcome, asked in another population or against another comparator.
- Not applicable (single-group prevalence) vs Not applicable (single-group prevalence) · Children younger than 71 months (under 6 years) · 1 review
Studies behind the findings
The primary studies the full-text reviews tie to this outcome. Reviews with headline outcomes only do not list them here.
- Caries Assessment in Preschool Children in Relation to Some Socioeconomic Factors · 2022 · included by 1 of these review
- Prevalence of early childhood caries and associated factors among a group of preschool children in El-Gharbia Governorate · 2022 · included by 1 of these review
- Early Childhood Caries Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors in Monastir, Tunisia: A Cross-Sectional Study. · 2022 · included by 1 of these review
- Epidemiology of dental caries in permanent dentition: evidence from a population-based survey in Egypt. · 2022 · included by 1 of these review
- Black stain and dental caries in primary teeth of Tunisian preschool children. · 2021 · included by 1 of these review
- Assesment of the Impact of Severe Early Childhood Caries on the Quality of Life of Preschool Children and their Parents · 2020 · included by 1 of these review
- Assessing the prevalence of early childhood caries and the associated determinants in a group of preschool children: results from a… · 2019 · included by 1 of these review
- Oral Health Status and Dental Treatment Needs of Preschool Children in 6th October City, Egypt · 2019 · included by 1 of these review
- The prevalence of dental caries among Egyptian children and adolescences and its association with age, socioeconomic status, dietary… · 2019 · included by 1 of these review
- Oral Health Status among Egyptian Preschool Children · 2018 · included by 1 of these review
- Early Childhood Caries Prevalence in Sudanese Preschool Children · 2017 · included by 1 of these review
- Oral Health and Occlusion in Tunisian Preschool Children · 2017 · included by 1 of these review
- Prioritizing the Risk Factors of Severe Early Childhood Caries. · 2017 · included by 1 of these review
- Prevalence of dental caries and toothbrushing habits among preschool children in Khartoum State, Sudan. · 2016 · included by 1 of these review
- Abou El-Yazeed et al. 2011 · included by 1 of these review
- Abu Hamila 2013 · included by 1 of these review
- Awooda et al. 2013 · included by 1 of these review
- Chamli et al. 2020 · included by 1 of these review
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.