Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25474705›Full record

SynthesisPLoS neglected tropical diseases2014

The relationship between water, sanitation and schistosomiasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Jack E T Grimes, David Croll, Wendy E Harrison, Jürg Utzinger, Matthew C Freeman, Michael R Templeton

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 158 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
158citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
16.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
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

158 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 309 citations in OpenAlex.

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98 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Jack E T GrimesDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
David CrollDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Wendy E HarrisonSchistosomiasis Control Initiative, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Jürg UtzingerDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Matthew C FreemanDepartment of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Michael R TempletonDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Imperial College London · GBSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute · CHEmory University · US

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAccess to "safe" water and "adequate" sanitation are emphasized as important measures for schistosomiasis control. Indeed, the schistosomes' lifecycles suggest that their transmission may be reduced through safe water and adequate sanitation. However, the evidence has not previously been compiled in a systematic review. METHODOLOGY: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting schistosome infection rates in people who do or do not have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to 31 December 2013, without restrictions on year of publication or language. Studies' titles and abstracts were screened by two independent assessors. Papers deemed of interest were read in full and appropriate studies included in the meta-analysis. Publication bias was assessed through the visual inspection of funnel plots and through Egger's test. Heterogeneity of datasets within the meta-analysis was quantified using Higgins' I2. PRINCIPAL

findingsSafe water supplies were associated with significantly lower odds of schistosomiasis (odds ratio (OR) = 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47-0.61). Adequate sanitation was associated with lower odds of Schistosoma mansoni, (OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47-0.73) and Schistosoma haematobium (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.57-0.84). Included studies were mainly cross-sectional and quality was largely poor. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that increasing access to safe water and adequate sanitation are important measures to reduce the odds of schistosome infection. However, most of the studies were observational and quality was poor. Hence, there is a pressing need for adequately powered cluster randomized trials comparing schistosome infection risk with access to safe water and adequate sanitation, more studies which rigorously define water and sanitation, and new research on the relationships between water, sanitation, hygiene, human behavior, and schistosome transmission.

Indexed as

Cross-Sectional StudiesHumansSanitationSchistosomiasisWater QualityWater Supply

Identifiers

PMID25474705
PMCPMC4256273
OpenAlexW2112225871

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.