Investigation of pain research in Nepal since update of Health Research Priority Areas: A scoping review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Investigation of pain research in Nepal since update of Health Research Priority Areas

T2 - A scoping review

AU - Higgins, Cassie

AU - Senaratne, Dhaneesha NS

AU - Ghimire, Bipin

AU - Parajuli, Arun

AU - Sharma, Saurab

AU - Hales, Tim G

AU - Acharya, Ranjeeta S

AU - Shrestha, Antima S

AU - Adhikari, Umesh

AU - Smith, Blair H.

AU - Colvin, Lesley

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

PY - 2026/8/4

Y1 - 2026/8/4

N2 - A scoping review of pain research in Nepal12 found evidence of high levels of confirmatory research and substantial knowledge gaps, informing the inclusion of several pain syndromes in the Health Research Priority Areas of Nepal 2019.15 It is timely to investigate how the pain research landscape has changed in Nepal in recent years. This scoping review searched six databases from 1 December 2018 to 12 June 2024, to explore the current evidence base, since the publication of the previous review and the policy change. A total of 766 articles were identified. Eligibility screening and data extraction were conducted independently by two researchers, and 167 articles were included, totalling 42,842 participants. Most articles were published in Nepal-based journals (83%), specifically institutional journals (72%). The greatest proportion of studies investigated post-procedural pain in hospital-based settings (32%). Overall, the majority investigated acute pain (71%), conducted research in adult-only populations (69%) and included sample sizes of 100 or fewer participants (65%). Only four studies investigated pain in community-based samples, and only one investigated pain associated with occupation-related, heavy load-bearing activities. The preponderance of hospital-based investigations of post-procedural pain algins with the findings from the previous review. Characterising chronic pain (including neuropathic and cancer pain) and investigating pain syndromes in large-scale community-based samples and specific populations (e.g. paediatric and occupational groups) could facilitate effective pain management for all, provide more relevant data rather than extrapolating from other populations and ensure Nepal’s contribution to the global academic community.

AB - A scoping review of pain research in Nepal12 found evidence of high levels of confirmatory research and substantial knowledge gaps, informing the inclusion of several pain syndromes in the Health Research Priority Areas of Nepal 2019.15 It is timely to investigate how the pain research landscape has changed in Nepal in recent years. This scoping review searched six databases from 1 December 2018 to 12 June 2024, to explore the current evidence base, since the publication of the previous review and the policy change. A total of 766 articles were identified. Eligibility screening and data extraction were conducted independently by two researchers, and 167 articles were included, totalling 42,842 participants. Most articles were published in Nepal-based journals (83%), specifically institutional journals (72%). The greatest proportion of studies investigated post-procedural pain in hospital-based settings (32%). Overall, the majority investigated acute pain (71%), conducted research in adult-only populations (69%) and included sample sizes of 100 or fewer participants (65%). Only four studies investigated pain in community-based samples, and only one investigated pain associated with occupation-related, heavy load-bearing activities. The preponderance of hospital-based investigations of post-procedural pain algins with the findings from the previous review. Characterising chronic pain (including neuropathic and cancer pain) and investigating pain syndromes in large-scale community-based samples and specific populations (e.g. paediatric and occupational groups) could facilitate effective pain management for all, provide more relevant data rather than extrapolating from other populations and ensure Nepal’s contribution to the global academic community.

KW - Pain

KW - Pain-related research

KW - Nepal

KW - Scoping review

KW - Pain prevalence

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105046590005

U2 - 10.1016/j.jpain.2026.106393

DO - 10.1016/j.jpain.2026.106393

M3 - Review article

C2 - 42551621

SN - 1526-5900

JO - Journal of Pain : Official Journal of the American Pain Society

JF - Journal of Pain : Official Journal of the American Pain Society

M1 - 106393

ER -