Prevalence of Sickle Cell Anemia in Nepal: A Meta-Analysis

Description

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of sickle cell anemia (SCA) in Nepal. All studies on SCA in Nepal up to July 30, 2024, were searched in the PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), Cochrane Library, Ovid, and Springer databases. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist was used to assess the quality of the included studies. R project was used to estimate the pooled prevalence rate and its 95% confidence interval (CI) based on the results of test of heterogeneity. Five cross-sectional studies involving 4183 participants. The heterogeneity showed that the P value was <0.100; therefore, we chose the result of the random effects model. The overall prevalence of SCA is 13.30% (95% CI: 3.49-27.93) in Tharu population in Nepal. Funnel plot dots were not distributed symmetrically on either side of the central line, which implies that there might be some publication bias. The results of heterogeneity analysis showed that hospital based studies 27.92 % (95% CI: 5.50-59.01) had higher prevalence rate than community based studies 6.49 % (95% CI: 3.4-10.43). Overall the prevalence rate of SCA was 13.30% in Tharu population in Nepal. Hospital-based studies have reported a higher pooled prevalence rate than community-based studies.

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Materials and methods Literature search This study was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. First, a search strategy was developed, and the major databases, including PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), Cochrane Library, Ovid, and Springer, were searched separately until July 30, 2024. All studies were included in the meta-analysis. A total of 159 studies were obtained from the different databases. The search strategies used for the different databases are listed in Table 1. Table 1: Search strategies used for literature databases Database Query Result Date PubMed (cross-sectional study OR cross-sectional survey OR prevalence) AND (Sickle Cell Anemia OR Sickle Cell) AND Nepal 10 July 30, 2024 WOS TS=(cross-sectional study OR cross-sectional survey OR prevalence) AND TS=(Sickle Cell Anemia OR Sickle Cell) AND ALL=(Nepal) 2 July 30, 2024 Cochrane Library ((cross sectional):ti,ab,kw OR (prevalence):ti,ab,kw) AND ((Sickle Cell anemia):ti,ab,kw OR MeSH descriptor: [Anemia, Sickle Cell] explode all trees) AND (Nepal):ti,ab,kw 1 July 30, 2024 Ovid (cross-sectional study OR cross-sectional survey OR prevalence) AND (Sickle Cell Anemia) AND Nepal 90 July 30, 2024 Springer (cross-sectional study OR cross-sectional survey OR prevalence) AND (Sickle Cell Anemia OR Sickle Cell) AND Nepal (limit: research articles, English) 56 July 30, 2024 Inclusion criteria The inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) the study must be conducted in Nepal and (b) the Prevalence in SCA. Exclusion criteria The inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) case reports, meta-analysis, editorials, and systematic review of SCA; (b) full text not available; (c) prevalence data not available in the study; and (d) academic papers written in languages other than English.

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