ReviewJournal of epidemiology and community health2007
A simple guide to chaos and complexity.
Review in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 93 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
93 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Qualitative process evaluation from a complex systems perspective: A systematic review and framework for public health evaluators.PLoS medicine · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic literature review of the key challenges for developing the structure of public health economic models.International journal of public health · 2016Pooled it
- Simple and rationale-providing SMS reminders to promote accelerometer use: a within-trial randomised trial comparing persuasive messages.BMC public health · 2018Trial
- A multifaceted intervention to implement guidelines and improve admission paediatric care in Kenyan district hospitals: a cluster randomised trial.PLoS medicine · 2011Trial
- Entropy of the resting state cortex in epilepsy.Biomedical physics & engineering express · 2026Article
- Complexity of Nuclear States forEntropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Review
- Chaotic fluctuations mark the sign of mental activity in task-based heart rate variability.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The unsolvable problem of traumatic brain injury (or how to stop wasting money in fruitless research).Surgical neurology international · 2026Review
- Prevalence and predictive factors of musculoskeletal injuries in triathletes: a cross-sectional study.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Towards a typology of mental health crisis care services for children and young people in England and Wales: a cross-sectional survey and analysis of implementation practices.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Crossing the line? Reflecting on interdisciplinary boundaries in veterinary science.Veterinary record open · 2025Article
- Towards a complex systems model of evidence for public health.BMJ global health · 2025Review
- Crossing the line? Reflecting on interdisciplinary boundaries in veterinary science.The Veterinary record · 2025Article
- Cancer complexity: why we need a novel cancer research strategy.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Integrating Disaster Response Tools for Clinical Leadership.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Promoting Coevolution Between Healthcare Organizations and Communities as Part of Social and Health Pathways Management in Quebec: Contributions of the Complex Adaptive Systems Approach.Health services insights · 2025Article
- Targeting the role played by microbiota and adaptive immunity within autoimmune disease complexity.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Reflective practice is a prerequisite for One Health development.One health outlook · 2024Article
- Identifying precondition configurations of mathematics anxiety among middle school students in China: using NCA and QCA approaches.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The concepts of complexity and chaos are being invoked with increasing frequency in the health sciences literature. However, the concepts underpinning these concepts are foreign to many health scientists and there is some looseness in how they have been translated from their origins in mathematics and physics, which is leading to confusion and error in their application. Nonetheless, used carefully, "complexity science" has the potential to invigorate many areas of health science and may lead to important practical outcomes; but if it is to do so, we need the discipline that comes from a proper and responsible usage of its concepts. Hopefully, this glossary will go some way towards achieving that objective.
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.