Systematic review and meta-analysis of veterinary-related occupational exposures to hazards

Abstract

Understanding hazards within the veterinary profession is critical for developing strategies to ensure the health and safety of personnel in the work environment. This study was conducted to systematically review and synthesize data on reported risks within veterinary workplaces. A systematic review of published data on occupational hazards and associated risk factors were searched within three database platforms namely PubMed, Ebscohost, and Google scholar. To determine the proportion estimates of hazards and pooled odds ratio, two randomeffects meta-analysis were performed. For the biological, chemical and physical hazards, the pooled proportion estimates were 17% (95% CI: 15.0-19.0, p < 0.001), 7.0% (95% CI: 6.0-9.0%, p < 0.001) and 65.0% (95% CI: 39.0-91.0%, p < 0.001) respectively. A pooled odds ratio indicated the risk of exposures to physical (OR=1.012, 95% CI: 1.008-1.017, p < 0.001) and biological hazards (OR=2.07, 95% CI: 1.70- 2.52, p <0.001) increased when working or in contact with animals. The review has provided a better understanding of occupational health and safety status of veterinarians and gaps within the developing countries. This evidence calls for policy formulation and implementation to reduce the risks of exposures to all forms of occupational-related hazards in veterinary workplaces.