{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,27]],"date-time":"2026-06-27T03:21:32Z","timestamp":1782530492684,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,23]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Chronic leg ulcers are known as a major and snowballing threat to public health and the global economy. In Africa, there is controversy on the dearth of studies reporting the epidemiology of chronic leg ulcers. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aim at synthesising the prevalence, incidence and aetiologies of this ailment in this continent from contemporary data.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods and design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We will include cohort studies, case\u2013control, cross-sectional studies and case series with more than 30 participants. Electronical databases including African Journals Online, MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica Database and Web of knowledge, and grey literature will be searched for relevant abstracts of studies published and unpublished between 1 January, 2000, and 28 February, 2019, without language restriction. The review will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Each study included in this review will be assessed for methodological quality. Clinically homogenous studies will be pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Visual inspection of funnel-plots and the Egger\u2019s test will be used to investigate publication bias. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses will be performed to investigate the possible sources of heterogeneity.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Ethics and dissemination<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The present study will be based on published data; therefore, ethical approval is not required. Result of the review will be presented at conferences, to relevant health authorities and will be published in a biomedical peer-reviewed journal.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Protocol registration number<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>CRD42018108250.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2018-026868","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,27]],"date-time":"2019-05-27T11:29:14Z","timestamp":1558956554000},"page":"e026868","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Contemporary occurrence and aetiology of chronic leg ulcers in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7976-4331","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Celestin","family":"Danwang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8338-2467","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joel Noutakdie","family":"Tochie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery and specialities, Universite de Yaounde I Faculte de Medecine et des Sciences Biomedicales, Yaounde, Cameroon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Temgoua Ngou","family":"Mazou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine and Specialities, Universite de Yaounde I Faculte de Medecine et des Sciences Biomedicales, Yaounde, Cameroon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rolf Nyah Tuku","family":"Nzalie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Hygiene, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8018-6279","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean Joel","family":"Bigna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre Pasteur of Cameroon, Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025121223042483000_9.5.e026868.1","first-page":"231","article-title":"Evidence-based treatment of chronic leg ulcers","volume":"108","author":"Kahle","year":"2011","journal-title":"Dtsch Arztebl Int"},{"key":"2025121223042483000_9.5.e026868.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2013\/413604","article-title":"Chronic Leg Ulcers: Epidemiology, Aetiopathogenesis, and Management","volume":"2013","author":"Agale","year":"2013","journal-title":"Ulcers"},{"key":"2025121223042483000_9.5.e026868.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1524-475X.2009.00543.x"},{"key":"2025121223042483000_9.5.e026868.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S4","DOI":"10.12968\/jowc.2017.26.Sup4.S4","article-title":"Cost-of-illness studies in chronic ulcers: a systematic review","volume":"26","author":"Chan","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Wound Care"},{"key":"2025121223042483000_9.5.e026868.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1445-2197.1994.tb02196.x"},{"key":"2025121223042483000_9.5.e026868.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/wound.2015.0635"},{"key":"2025121223042483000_9.5.e026868.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2648.2007.04348.x"},{"key":"2025121223042483000_9.5.e026868.8","unstructured":"L\u00f3pez-Casanova P . 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