Prevalence of organophosphate poisoning in Nepal: A Meta-Analysis

Objective To estimate the prevalence of organophosphate (OP) poisoning in Nepal.Methods PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC), Cochrane Library, Ovid, and Springer databases were searched. The search strategies were used in different databases and searched up until December 13, 2024. 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. Results A total of eleven studies were included, involving 4809 participants. The heterogeneity indicated a P value of <0.100; therefore, we applied the random effects model for data synthesis. The overall prevalence of OP poisoning is 36.7% (95% CI: 24.99-49.34) in Nepal. Funnel plot dots were not distributed symmetrically on either side of the central line, suggesting potential publication bias. The results of heterogeneity analysis revealed that hospital-based studies showed a higher prevalence rate of 36.9% (95% CI: 24.2-50.6) than community-based studies. Additionally, studies conducted in Other cities-based demonstrated a pooled prevalence rate of 43.38% (95% CI: 28.95-58.39), which was higher than that in Kathmandu-based studies.Conclusion The overall prevalence rate of OP poisoning was 36.7% in Nepal. The hospital-based studies indicated a higher pooled prevalence than community-based studies and other cities-based studies reported a higher prevalence than Kathmandu-based studies. Future research is warranted to provide more accurate and comprehensive evidence on the prevalence rate of OP poisoning in Nepal.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis to report on the prevalence of Organophosphate (OP) poisoning in Nepal. Our findings revealed that the overall prevalence of OP poisoning in Nepal is 36.7%.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY(1) The pooled prevalence rate of organophosphate (OP)poisoning was 36.7% in Nepal. (2) The hospital-based studies had a higher pooled prevalence than community-based studies. (3) Most of the studies were performed in Kathmandu rather than in other cities. However, Other cities-based studies showed a higher prevalence of OPpoisoning compared to thosebased in Kathmandu.