Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24895350›Full record

SynthesisHealth policy and planning2015

Monitoring the ability to deliver care in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of health facility assessment tools.

Jason W Nickerson, Orvill Adams, Amir Attaran, Janet Hatcher-Roberts, Peter Tugwell

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Health policy and planning, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
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  6. Review
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  13. Content of antenatal care and perception about services provided by primary hospitals in Nepal: a convergent mixed methods study.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2021
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  18. Needs assessment for a formal emergency medicine residency program in southern Madagascar.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2019
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Jason W NickersonInstitute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Orvill Adams and Associates, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Canadian Society for International Health, Ottawa, ON, Canada and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Orvill Adams and Associates, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Canadian Society for International Health, Ottawa, ON, Canada and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada Jason.Nickerson@uottawa.ca.
Orvill AdamsInstitute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Orvill Adams and Associates, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Canadian Society for International Health, Ottawa, ON, Canada and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Amir AttaranInstitute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Orvill Adams and Associates, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Canadian Society for International Health, Ottawa, ON, Canada and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Orvill Adams and Associates, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Canadian Society for International Health, Ottawa, ON, Canada and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Janet Hatcher-RobertsInstitute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Orvill Adams and Associates, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Canadian Society for International Health, Ottawa, ON, Canada and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Peter TugwellInstitute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Orvill Adams and Associates, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Canadian Society for International Health, Ottawa, ON, Canada and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Funding

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionHealth facilities assessments are an essential instrument for health system strengthening in low- and middle-income countries. These assessments are used to conduct health facility censuses to assess the capacity of the health system to deliver health care and to identify gaps in the coverage of health services. Despite the valuable role of these assessments, there are currently no minimum standards or frameworks for these tools.

methodsWe used a structured keyword search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE and HealthStar databases and searched the websites of the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the International Health Facilities Assessment Network to locate all available health facilities assessment tools intended for use in low- and middle-income countries. We parsed the various assessment tools to identify similarities between them, which we catalogued into a framework comprising 41 assessment domains.

resultsWe identified 10 health facility assessment tools meeting our inclusion criteria, all of which were included in our analysis. We found substantial variation in the comprehensiveness of the included tools, with the assessments containing indicators in 13 to 33 (median: 25.5) of the 41 assessment domains included in our framework. None of the tools collected data on all 41 of the assessment domains we identified.

conclusionsNot only do a large number of health facility assessment tools exist, but the data they collect and methods they employ are very different. This certainly limits the comparability of the data between different countries' health systems and probably creates blind spots that impede efforts to strengthen those systems. Agreement is needed on the essential elements of health facility assessments to guide the development of specific indicators and for refining existing instruments.

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityNeeds AssessmentDelivery of Health CareDeveloping CountriesHealth FacilitiesHealth ResourcesHumansWorkforcehealth care surveyshealth facilitieshealth services accessibilityHealth systemmethodologies

Identifiers

PMID24895350
PMCPMC4421835

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.