Evidence map›Paper›PMID 11564611›Full record

Trial reportEnvironmental health perspectives2001

A randomized, blinded, controlled trial investigating the gastrointestinal health effects of drinking water quality.

M E Hellard, M I Sinclair, A B Forbes, C K Fairley

Open access · diamondAbstract readClinical TrialRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Environmental health perspectives, 2001. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
46citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
9.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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

46 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 183 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
    Pooled it
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  5. Prevention and treatment of cryptosporidiosis in immunocompromised patients.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2007
    Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

M E HellardDepartment of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
M I Sinclair
A B Forbes
C K Fairley
Monash University · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial was carried out in in Melbourne, Australia, to determine the contribution of drinking water to gastroenteritis. Melbourne is one of the few major cities in the world that draws drinking water from a protected forest catchment with minimal water treatment (chlorination only). Six hundred families were randomly allocated to receive either real or sham water treatment units (WTUs) installed in their kitchen. Real units were designed to remove viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. Study participants completed a weekly health diary reporting gastrointestinal symptoms during the 68-week observation period. There were 2,669 cases of highly credible gastroenteritis (HCG) during the study (0.80 cases/person/year). The ratio of HCG episode rates for the real WTU group compared to the sham WTU group was 0.99 (95% confidence interval, 0.85-1.15, p = 0.85). We collected 795 fecal specimens from participants with gastroenteritis, and pathogens were not more significantly common in the sham WTU group. We found no evidence of waterborne disease in Melbourne. The application of this methodology to other water supplies will provide a better understanding of the relationship between human health and water quality.

Indexed as

Water MicrobiologyAdultAeromonasAnimalsCampylobacterCausalityChildChlorineClostridiumColony Count, MicrobialCryptosporidiumDouble-Blind MethodEscherichia coliFecesFemaleGastroenteritisChlorine

Identifiers

PMID11564611
PMCPMC1240403
OpenAlexW2046999271

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.