Evidence map›Paper›PMID 10864543›Full record

SynthesisBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2000

Effects of treatment for intestinal helminth infection on growth and cognitive performance in children: systematic review of randomised trials.

R Dickson, S Awasthi, P Williamson, C Demellweek, P Garner

Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2000. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
65citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
5.8field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

65 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 204 citations in OpenAlex.

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5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

R DicksonInternational Health Division, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool L3 5QA. rdickson@liv.ac.uk
S Awasthi
P Williamson
C Demellweek
P Garner
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo summarise the effects of anthelmintic drug treatment on growth and cognitive performance in children. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases: Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group controlled trial register, Cochrane controlled trials register, Embase, and Medline. Citations of all identified trials. Contact with the World Health Organization and field researchers. REVIEW

methodsSystematic review of randomised controlled trials in children aged 1-16 that compared anthelmintic treatment with placebo or no treatment. Assessment of validity and data abstraction conducted independently by two reviewers.

main outcome measuresGrowth and cognitive performance.

resultsThirty randomised controlled trials in more than 15 000 children were identified. Effects on mean weight were unremarkable, and heterogeneity was evident in the results. There were some positive effects on mean weight change in the trials reporting this outcome: after a single dose (any anthelmintic) the pooled estimates were 0.24 kg (95% confidence interval 0.15 kg to 0. 32 kg; fixed effects model assumed) and 0.38 kg (0.01 kg to 0.77 kg; random effects model assumed). Results from trials of multiple doses showed mean weight change in up to one year of follow up of 0.10 kg (0.04 kg to 0.17 kg; fixed effects) or 0.15 kg (0.00 to 0.30; random effects). At more than one year of follow up, mean weight change was 0.12 kg (-0.02 kg to 0.26 kg; fixed effects) and 0.43 (-0.61 to 1. 47; random effects). Results from studies of cognitive performance were inconclusive.

conclusionsThere is some limited evidence that routine treatment of children in areas where helminths are common has effects on weight gain, but this is not consistent between trials. There is insufficient evidence as to whether this intervention improves cognitive performance.

Indexed as

AdolescentAnthelminticsChildChild, PreschoolCognitionDatabases, BibliographicData Interpretation, StatisticalGrowthHumansInfantRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicReproducibility of ResultsAnthelmintics

Identifiers

PMID10864543
PMCPMC27412
OpenAlexW1982495095

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.