Trial reportThe international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease2014
Feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial of a cookstove intervention in rural Malawi.
Trial report in The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Assessing the Impact of Improved Cookstove Technology Trials (ICTs) on Household Air Pollution and Human Health in Sub-Saharan Africa.Current environmental health reports · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Improved stove interventions to reduce household air pollution in low and middle income countries: a descriptive systematic review.BMC public health · 2015Pooled it
- Trial
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- Improved cookstoves to reduce household air pollution exposure in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review of intervention studies.PloS one · 2023Article
- "We threw away the stones": a mixed method evaluation of a simple cookstove intervention in Malawi.Wellcome open research · 2022Article
- Non-communicable respiratory disease in Malawi: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2020Article
- Sociodemographic, behavioral, and environmental factors of child mortality in Eastern Region of Cameroon: results from a social autopsy study.Journal of global health · 2017Article
- In-Use Emissions and Estimated Impacts of Traditional, Natural- and Forced-Draft Cookstoves in Rural Malawi.Environmental science & technology · 2017Article
- Comparison of methods for the analysis of airway macrophage particulate load from induced sputum, a potential biomarker of air pollution exposure.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2015Article
- Respiratory risks from household air pollution in low and middle income countries.The Lancet. Respiratory medicine · 2014Review
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
Abstract
backgroundExposure to household air pollution (HAP) causes 4 million deaths annually, and strategies to reduce HAP exposure are urgently required.
objectiveTo evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of conducting a trial of a cookstove intervention in rural Malawi.
designNon-smoking women were randomised to continuing to use an open fire (control) or to using a wood-burning clay cookstove (intervention). Symptom burden, oxygen saturation and exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO) were assessed at baseline and 7-day follow-up. A subset of women underwent HAP exposure monitoring.
resultsOf 51 women recruited, 50 (98%) completed the main study. The methodology was acceptable to participants. Headache, back pain and cough were the most commonly reported symptoms at baseline and follow-up. Median eCO was within normal limits, but with a difference of 0.5 parts per million (ppm) in median change of eCO from baseline to follow-up seen between the two groups (P = 0.035). The peak ambient CO concentration detected was 150 ppm.
conclusionThis study suggests that a large cookstove intervention trial in Malawi would be feasible with careful community sensitisation. Monitoring exposure to HAP is challenging, and further studies evaluating potential biomarkers of exposure, including eCO, should be undertaken.
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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.