Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that affects the liver. The spectrum of clinical manifestations of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection varies in both acute and chronic disease. During the chronic phase, manifestations range from an asymptomatic carrier state to chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBV seropositivity among age groups in Azar Cohort population.

This was a population – based study, using random cluster sampling 4949 healthy subjects of both genders between 35-70 years of age were included during 2015-2016 in east Azerbaijan, Iran. Questionnaires including some demographic characteristics were administered to participants. Serum samples were tested for hepatitis B markers including HBsAg, and HBsAb by using the third generation of ELISA test. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 19.0

The mean age of hepatitis positive patients was 50.06 ± 9.14 years. Of these participants, 54.3% (n= 2686) were females. Out of 51 HBsAg positive patients, 14 patients (27.45%) based on the evidence of laboratory had transaminitis and 37 patients (72.55%) were without transaminitis. The prevalence of HBsAg in age groups <40, 40-50, 50-60 and >60 were 0.86%, 0.98%, 1.2% and 1.03% respectively. The prevalence of HBsAb in age groups <40, 40-50, 50-60 and >60 were 13.3%, 16.3%, 18.2% and 21.4% respectively. In this study, we did not find any significant association between frequency of HBsAg and age. There was a significant association between frequency of HBsAb and age group (p<0.001).

According to our results, the prevalence of HBsAg in different age groups were lower than with the results reported from other studies. In addition, religious background, with a low social deprivation can affect the outcome of the study