Need for HTA supported risk factor screening for hypertension and diabetes in Nepal: A systematic scoping review

Chiranjivi Adhikari; Rojana Dhakal; Lal Mani Adhikari; Bijaya Parajuli; Khem Raj Subedi; Yeshoda Aryal; Arjun Kumar Thapa; Komal Shah

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.898225

Need for HTA supported risk factor screening for hypertension and diabetes in Nepal: A systematic scoping review

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Aug 1:9:898225. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.898225. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Chiranjivi Adhikari^{1

2}, Rojana Dhakal^{3

4}, Lal Mani Adhikari⁵, Bijaya Parajuli⁶, Khem Raj Subedi⁷, Yeshoda Aryal⁸, Arjun Kumar Thapa⁹, Komal Shah²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, SHAS, Pokhara University, Pokhara, Nepal.
² Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar, India.
³ Department of Nursing, School of Health and Allied Sciences, Pokhara University, Pokhara, Nepal.
⁴ Department of Life and Health Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁵ Health Research and Social Development Forum International, Kathmandu, Nepal.
⁶ Ministry of Health and Population, Gandaki Province, Myagdi Health Office, Myagdi, Nepal.
⁷ Department of Economics, Far Western University, Tikapur Multiple Campus, Kailali, Nepal.
⁸ Ministry of Health and Population, Kathmandu, Nepal.
⁹ Department of Economics, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Pokhara University, Pokhara, Nepal.

Abstract

Objective: Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a comprehensive and important tool for assessment and decision-making in public health and healthcare practice. It is recommended by the WHO and has been applied in practice in many countries, mostly the developed ones. HTA might be an important tool to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), especially beneficial to low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC). Even though the Package for Essential Non-communicable Diseases (PEN) has already been initiated, there is a clear policy gap in the HTA of any health device, service, or procedure, including the assessment of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) in Nepal. Hence, we carried out the review to document the HTA supported evidence of hypertension and diabetes screening, as CVRFs in Nepal.

Materials and methods: We searched in PubMed, Cochrane, and Google Scholar, along with some gray literature published in the last 6 years (2016-2021) in a systematic way with a controlled vocabulary using a well-designed and pilot tested search strategy, screened them, and a total of 53 articles and reports that matched the screening criteria were included for the review. We then, extracted the data in a pre-designed MS-Excel format, first in one, and then, from it, in two, with more specific data.

Results: Of 53 included studies, we reported the prevalence and/or proportion of hypertension and diabetes with various denominators. Furthermore, HTA-related findings such as cost, validity, alternative tool or technology, awareness, and intervention effectiveness have been documented and discussed further, however, not summarized due to their sparingness.

Conclusion: Overall, the prevalence of DM (4.4-18.8%) and HTN (17.2-70.0%) was reported in most studies, with a few, covering other aspects of HTA of DM/HTN. A national policy for establishing an HTA agency and some immediately implementable actions are highly recommended.

Keywords: Nepal; cardiovascular; diabetes; health technology assessment (HTA); hypertension; review; risk factor; screening.

Publication types

Review