ArticleInternational journal of public health2014
A scoping review of unintended harm associated with public health interventions: towards a typology and an understanding of underlying factors.
Article in International journal of public health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 4 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
36 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Interventions to prevent obesity in children aged 2 to 4 years old.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions to prevent obesity in children aged 12 to 18 years old.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Interventions to prevent obesity in children aged 5 to 11 years old.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Mass drug administration for neglected tropical disease control and elimination: a systematic review of ethical reasons.BMJ global health · 2024Pooled it
- Helped into Harm: Mediation of a Housing Voucher Intervention on Mental Health and Substance Use in Boys.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Article
- Defining a public health approach to substance use: insights from a systematic scoping review and conceptual framework development approach.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Assessing Equitable Implementation of a Social Care Initiative Integrating Medical and Social Services for Medicaid Members.Health services research · 2025Article
- A qualitative analysis of unintended effects of a digital conditional cash transfer intervention to encourage healthcare utilization in Southern Madagascar.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Maintenance of service delivery during medical countermeasures deployment: The association between the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and continuity of routine childhood immunization services in Uganda.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Practitioners' perspectives on unintended effects of illicit drug use prevention public service announcements in Australia.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- Recommendations on recording harms in randomised controlled trials of behaviour change interventions.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2024Article
- Implementing group care in Dutch and Surinamese maternity and child care services: the vital importance of addressing outer context barriers.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Development of an overarching framework for anticipating and assessing adverse and other unintended consequences of public health interventions (CONSEQUENT): a best-fit framework synthesis.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Experiences and needs of women in vulnerable situations receiving additional interventions in maternity care: a qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Article
- Revisiting concepts of evidence in implementation science.Implementation science : IS · 2022Article
- Article
- Widening the gap? Unintended consequences of health promotion measures for young people during COVID-19 lockdown.Health promotion international · 2021Article
- Strengthening the basics: public health responses to prevent the next pandemic.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Article
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
Abstract
objectivesUnintended harm theory as related to public health interventions (PHI) is under developed, with harm evaluation and reporting often absent or incomplete. This review presents a typology for, and underlying factors linked to, PHI-associated unintended harm.
methodsThis scoping review was conducted electronically and includes articles from 1992 to June of 2013. Out of 2,490 originally identified titles, 26 full-text articles were included that discussed unintended harm associated with PHI. An iterative data analysis process was utilized to identify both a typology and underlying factors associated with unintended harm.
resultsA typology of PHI-associated unintended harm was identified: (1) physical; (2) psychosocial; (3) economic; (4) cultural and (5) environmental. Five underlying factors associated with PHI unintended harm emerged: (1) limited and/or poor quality evidence; (2) prevention of one extreme leads to another (boomerang effects); (3) lack of community engagement; (4) ignoring root causes; and (5) higher-income country PHI implementation in a lower- or middle-income country.
conclusionsPHI planning and evaluation frameworks may benefit from the consideration and potential incorporation of the unintended harm typology and underlying factors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
24381979What 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.