This study used a systematic review and meta-analysis to appraise the completed research papers of ADZU-SOM medical students on safe pesticide handling and determined the effect of the interventions on the health literacy of farmers. There were 721 research papers done by the students of ADZU-SOM in their MD and MPH programs. These researches included topics on communicable and non-communicable diseases such as Dengue, Pneumonia, Diarrhea, Immunizations, Pesticide, etc., which are the common problems identified in the community. Nine (9) of these were removed because of duplicates, and 701 were further excluded because they did not focus on safe pesticide handling. Overall, 14 research papers were subjected to the “Critical appraisal for public health: a new checklist tool” proposed by Richard Heller et al., 2007. Most of the interventions involved disseminating information through lectures, peer education, and printed materials such as posters and pamphlets. To evaluate the interventions, researchers utilized pre-and post-test research design to examine changes in knowledge and practices. Meta-analysis suggests that the educational interventions conducted by the medical students effectively increased the health literacy of farmers regarding safe pesticide handling. These findings were based on the nine research papers included and found eligible for the final pooling of effect sizes. Considering the results of this literature review and meta-analysis, the researcher concluded that the health education interventions conducted by the ADZU-SOM medical students statistically increased the health literacy of farmers regarding safe pesticide handling. Using the results from this review, future practitioners can develop programs to help farmers further improve their knowledge and practices in farm safety.

Keyword: Educational interventions of AdZU-SOM students Safe pesticide handling