ArticleGlobal health, science and practice2014
Evidence-based public health: not only whether it works, but how it can be made to work practicably at scale.
Article in Global health, science and practice, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bringing malaria diagnosis and treatment closer to the people: economic rationale for expanding malaria community case management to all ages in a rural district in Madagascar.Malaria journal · 2025Trial
- The Saturation+ Approach to Behavior Change: Case Study of a Child Survival Radio Campaign in Burkina Faso.Global health, science and practice · 2015Trial
- Scoping review of needs for digital technology in co-creation: a health CASCADE study.Research involvement and engagement · 2025Article
- Perceived Unmet Needs in Patients Living With Advanced Bladder Cancer and Their Caregivers: Infodemiology Study Using Data From Social Media in the United States.JMIR cancer · 2022Article
- Adapting public health response through lessons learnt: Nigeria's experience from Lassa fever and COVID-19.BMJ global health · 2022Article
- Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition to Reduce Wasting in Urban Informal Settlements of Mumbai, India: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation.Global health, science and practice · 2018Article
- Interventions for domestic violence among pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2017Article
- Contraceptive availability leads to increase in use in conflict-affected Democratic Republic of the Congo: evidence from cross-sectional cluster surveys, facility assessments and service statistics.Conflict and health · 2017Article
- Reducing rural maternal mortality and the equity gap in northern Nigeria: the public health evidence for the Community Communication Emergency Referral strategy.International journal of women's health · 2016Article
- Methodological Bias Can Lead the Cochrane Collaboration to Irrelevance in Public Health Decision-Making.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2015Article
- Women's Groups to Improve Maternal and Child Health Outcomes: Different Evidence Paradigms Toward Impact at Scale.Global health, science and practice · 2015Article
- Action-Oriented Population Nutrition Research: High Demand but Limited Supply.Global health, science and practice · 2015Article
- A false dichotomy: RCTs and their contributions to evidence-based public health.Global health, science and practice · 2015Article
- Response to "A false dichotomy: RCTs and their contributions to evidence-based public health".Global health, science and practice · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Because public health must operate at scale in widely diverse, complex situations, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have limited utility for public health. Other methodologies are needed. A key conceptual backbone is a detailed "theory of change" to apply appropriate evidence for each operational component. Synthesizing patterns of findings across multiple methodologies provides key insights. Programs operating successfully across a variety of settings can provide some of the best evidence. Challenges include judging the quality of such evidence and assisting programs to apply it. WHO and others should shift emphasis from RCTs to more relevant evidence when assessing public health issues.
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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.