SynthesisPloS one2013
What is the role of informal healthcare providers in developing countries? A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 204 papers, 5 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
204 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Medication safety in older adults in India: an integrative PhD synthesis of direct evidence and contextual implementation evidence.Global health action · 2026Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce non-prescription antimicrobial sales in community pharmacies.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions on informal healthcare providers to improve the delivery of healthcare services in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Introducing malaria rapid diagnostic tests in private medicine retail outlets: A systematic literature review.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- Delays in diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in India: a systematic review.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2014Pooled it
- Boosting health provider performance with non-financial incentives: A cluster-randomized controlled trial in Tanzania.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Reaching Adolescent Girls and Young Women With HIV Self-Testing and Contraception at Girl-Friendly Drug Shops: A Randomized Trial in Tanzania.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2023Trial
- Community groups or mobile phone messaging to prevent and control type 2 diabetes and intermediate hyperglycaemia in Bangladesh (DMagic): a cluster-randomised controlled trial.The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology · 2019Trial
- Understanding the context of delays in seeking appropriate care for children with symptoms of severe malaria in Uganda.PloS one · 2019Trial
- Economic evaluation of the practical approach to lung health and informal provider interventions for improving the detection of tuberculosis and chronic airways disease at primary care level in Malawi: study protocol for cost-effectiveness analysis.Implementation science : IS · 2015Trial
- Exploring the roles of informal healthcare providers in urban settings to improve access and quality of care for the urban poor: experience from Bangladesh, Ghana, Nepal, and Nigeria.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Revolutionising healthcare access: student-led clinics as catalysts for change in an underserved urban community in Karachi, Pakistan.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Regulating practice at the margins: Türkiye's sequential policy response to unlicensed traditional, complementary, and independent health service provision, 2025-26.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- Antibiotic dispensing practices and determinants among informal healthcare providers in low- and middle-income countries: a mixed-methods scoping review.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Experiences of stigma and violence among persons affected by skin neglected tropical diseases (NTDs): longitudinal analysis from an integrated intervention in Liberia.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Medicine retailers in Goma, the "white coats of the pharmacy": unity among diversity.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Why Do Parents Take Their Children to Informal Healthcare Providers? Insights from Bangladesh.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic consequences of tuberculosis for households in Nigeria: a longitudinal patient cost survey within an intervention engaging informal health providers.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Perspectives and lived experiences of postpartum women seeking health services from traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in Mayuge District, Eastern Uganda.Discover social science and health · 2026Article
144 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Informal health care providers (IPs) comprise a significant component of health systems in developing nations. Yet little is known about the most basic characteristics of performance, cost, quality, utilization, and size of this sector. To address this gap we conducted a comprehensive literature review on the informal health care sector in developing countries. We searched for studies published since 2000 through electronic databases PubMed, Google Scholar, and relevant grey literature from The New York Academy of Medicine, The World Bank, The Center for Global Development, USAID, SHOPS (formerly PSP-One), The World Health Organization, DFID, Human Resources for Health Global Resource Center. In total, 334 articles were retrieved, and 122 met inclusion criteria and chosen for data abstraction. Results indicate that IPs make up a significant portion of the healthcare sector globally, with almost half of studies (48%) from Sub-Saharan Africa. Utilization estimates from 24 studies in the literature of IP for healthcare services ranged from 9% to 90% of all healthcare interactions, depending on the country, the disease in question, and methods of measurement. IPs operate in a variety of health areas, although baseline information on quality is notably incomplete and poor quality of care is generally assumed. There was a wide variation in how quality of care is measured. The review found that IPs reported inadequate drug provision, poor adherence to clinical national guidelines, and that there were gaps in knowledge and provider practice; however, studies also found that the formal sector also reported poor provider practices. Reasons for using IPs included convenience, affordability, and social and cultural effects. Recommendations from the literature amount to a call for more engagement with the IP sector. IPs are a large component of nearly all developing country health systems. Research and policies of engagement are needed.
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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.