ArticleBMC health services research2007
Access to electronic health knowledge in five countries in Africa: a descriptive study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Electronic retrieval of health information by healthcare providers to improve practice and patient care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2009Pooled it
- Association between ethnicity and health knowledge among the floating population in China.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2022Article
- Evaluation of reporting quality of abstracts of randomized controlled trials regarding patients with COVID-19 using the CONSORT statement for abstracts.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2022Article
- Self-reported knowledge, attitudes, practices and barriers in use of evidence-based medicine among resident physicians in Kenya: a mixed methods study.BMC medical education · 2021Article
- Article
- A Global Assessment of Access to and Use of Medical Information: The State of Evidence-Based Surgery.World journal of surgery · 2018Article
- Barriers and incentives for conducting research amongst the ophthalmologists in Sub-Sahara Africa.PloS one · 2018Article
- Quality of pilot trial abstracts in heart failure is suboptimal: a systematic survey.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2018Article
- Health Information and Global Health Inequity: Point-of-Care Knowledge Systems as a Foundation for Progress.Journal of general internal medicine · 2017Review
- Article
- Abstracts reporting of HIV/AIDS randomized controlled trials in general medicine and infectious diseases journals: completeness to date and improvement in the quality since CONSORT extension for abstracts.BMC medical research methodology · 2016Article
- Building local capacity for genomics research in Africa: recommendations from analysis of publications in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2004 to 2013.Global health action · 2016Article
- Information-seeking trends of medical professionals and students from middle-income countries: a focus on the Philippines.Health information and libraries journal · 2013Article
- Computer literacy and E-learning perception in Cameroon: the case of Yaounde Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.BMC medical education · 2013Article
- Do language fluency and other socioeconomic factors influence the use of PubMed and MedlinePlus?Applied clinical informatics · 2013Article
- Improving malaria control in West Africa: interruption of transmission as a paradigm shift.Acta tropica · 2012Article
- Sharing science: enabling global access to the scientific literature.Environmental health perspectives · 2011Article
- The growth of a culture of evidence-based obstetrics in South Africa: a qualitative case study.Reproductive health · 2011Review
- Low-income countries' orthopaedic information needs: challenges and opportunities.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2010Article
- Designing financial-incentive programmes for return of medical service in underserved areas: seven management functions.Human resources for health · 2009Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAccess to medical literature in developing countries is helped by open access publishing and initiatives to allow free access to subscription only journals. The effectiveness of these initiatives in Africa has not been assessed. This study describes awareness, reported use and factors influencing use of on-line medical literature via free access initiatives.
methodsDescriptive study in four teaching hospitals in Cameroon, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda plus one externally funded research institution in The Gambia. Survey with postgraduate doctors and research scientists to determine Internet access patterns, reported awareness of on-line medical information and free access initiatives; semi structured interviews with a sub-sample of survey participants to explore factors influencing use.
resultsIn the four African teaching hospitals, 70% of the 305 postgraduate doctors reported textbooks as their main source of information; 66% had used the Internet for health information in the last week. In two hospitals, Internet cafés were the main Internet access point. For researchers at the externally-funded research institution, electronic resources were their main source, and almost all had used the Internet in the last week. Across all 333 respondents, 90% had heard of PubMed, 78% of BMJ on line, 49% the Cochrane Library, 47% HINARI, and 19% BioMedCentral. HINARI use correlates with accessing the Internet on computers located in institutions. Qualitative data suggested there are difficulties logging into HINARI and that sometimes it is librarians that limit access to passwords.
conclusionText books remain an important resource for postgraduate doctors in training. Internet use is common, but awareness of free-access initiatives is limited. HINARI and other initiatives could be more effective with strong institutional endorsement and management to promote and ensure access.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.