Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17353208›Full record

SynthesisBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2007

Interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Thomas Clasen, Wolf-Peter Schmidt, Tamer Rabie, Ian Roberts, Sandy Cairncross

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 192 papers, 18 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
192citing papers in PubMed, 18 pooled it
19.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

192 citing papers in PubMed, 18 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 633 citations in OpenAlex.

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  17. Water, sanitation and hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoea.International journal of epidemiology · 2010
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132 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 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Thomas ClasenDepartment of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT. thomas.clasen@lshtm.ac.uk
Wolf-Peter Schmidt
Tamer Rabie
Ian Roberts
Sandy Cairncross
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBUniversity of London · GBWorld Bank · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the effectiveness of interventions to improve the microbial quality of drinking water for preventing diarrhoea.

designSystematic review. DATA SOURCES: Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group's trials register, CENTRAL, Medline, Embase, LILACS; hand searching; and correspondence with experts and relevant organisations. STUDY SELECTION: Randomised and quasirandomised controlled trials of interventions to improve the microbial quality of drinking water for preventing diarrhoea in adults and in children in settings with endemic disease. DATA EXTRACTION: Allocation concealment, blinding, losses to follow-up, type of intervention, outcome measures, and measures of effect. Pooled effect estimates were calculated within the appropriate subgroups. DATA SYNTHESIS: 33 reports from 21 countries documenting 42 comparisons were included. Variations in design, setting, and type and point of intervention, and variations in defining, assessing, calculating, and reporting outcomes limited the comparability of study results and pooling of results by meta-analysis. In general, interventions to improve the microbial quality of drinking water are effective in preventing diarrhoea. Effectiveness was not conditioned on the presence of improved water supplies or sanitation in the study setting and was not enhanced by combining the intervention with instructions on basic hygiene, a water storage vessel, or improved sanitation or water supplies--other common environmental interventions intended to prevent diarrhoea.

conclusionInterventions to improve water quality are generally effective for preventing diarrhoea in all ages and in under 5s. Significant heterogeneity among the trials suggests that the level of effectiveness may depend on a variety of conditions that research to date cannot fully explain.

Indexed as

DiarrheaHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRisk AssessmentWater MicrobiologyWater PurificationWater Supply

Identifiers

PMID17353208
PMCPMC1851994
OpenAlexW2135576309

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.