Prevalence of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Pakistan: A Meta-Analysis Study
Author(s): Mahesh Kumar*, Nisar Ahmed Khokhar, Safia Bano, Shahtaj Adil Shah, Mehwish Abrar and Muhammad Amjad Kalhoro
Abstract
Aim: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of rheumatic heart disease in Pakistan Study Design: A meta-analysis study. Place and duration: Different regions of Pakistan in 2019. Methodology: From different regions of Pakistan, the data of around 2000 individuals was collected by different electronic databases to identify the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease among individuals who are between the ages of 6 to 15 years old. The electronic data bases include google scholar, global health and PubMed. Results: After the title and abstract screening of 1350 articles, 31 articles were sorted out in which 17 articles fulfilled our inclusion criteria. In this study, the population from different regions of Pakistan was collected. In 13 articles the prevalence was measured by echocardiography, cardiac auscultation and cardiac murmurs were used to determine the disease prevalence. Its prevalence was 15.8 per 1009 patients with a 95 % confidence interval (6.4–15.2) and by cardiac auscultation 13.9 per 991 patients with a 95% confidence interval (1.0–4.8). Conclusion: It was found out that the rheumatic heart disease is quite prevalent in the region which have low and poor health infrastructure and facilities, and the regions with educated population who received quick treatment along with quick diagnosis of the disease.