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

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.

本研究旨在估算尼泊尔镰状细胞性贫血（SCA）的患病率。至2024年7月30日为止，在PubMed、Web of Science（WoS）、Cochrane Library、Ovid和Springer数据库中检索了关于尼泊尔SCA的所有研究。采用Joanna Briggs Institute（JBI）批判性评估清单对纳入研究的质量进行了评估。使用R项目根据异质性检验结果，对合并患病率和其95%置信区间（CI）进行了估计。涉及4183名参与者的五项横断面研究。异质性分析显示，P值小于0.100；因此，我们选择了随机效应模型的结果。尼泊尔塔鲁人群SCA的总体患病率为13.30%（95% CI：3.49-27.93）。漏斗图点在中心线两侧分布不对称，这表明可能存在某些发表偏倚。异质性分析结果显示，基于医院的27.92%（95% CI：5.50-59.01%）研究比基于社区的6.49%（95% CI：3.4-10.43%）研究的患病率更高。总体而言，尼泊尔塔鲁人群SCA的患病率为13.30%。基于医院的报道显示的合并患病率高于基于社区的研究。