SynthesisPloS one2015
Intensive care unit capacity in low-income countries: a systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06288724 (Potentially MOdifiable Factors To ImproVe Outcomes of Mechanically Ventilated Patients in ICUs in a Low-income Country), which is not on this map. Cited by 194 papers, 6 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.
Potentially MOdifiable Factors To ImproVe Outcomes of Mechanically Ventilated Patients in ICUs in a Low-income Country: Rationale and Protocol for a Registry-embedded Prospective Observational Study
Who cites it
194 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 373 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Lipid Emulsion for Non-Local Anesthetic Poisoning.Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology · 2026Pooled it
- Prognostic models for predicting intensive care unit admission or mortality in critically ill adults not yet been admitted to the intensive care unit.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Incidence and burden of long COVID in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Critical care delivery across health care systems in low-income and low-middle-income country settings: A systematic review.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- Resource use, availability and cost in the provision of critical care in Tanzania: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Paediatric Critical Care Implementation in Lower-Resource Settings: Application of Community-Based Group Model Building.Research square · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness of the IMPALA monitoring system for hospitalised children in low-resource settings: a pragmatic before-and-after study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- Unplanned Post-Operative Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Admissions After Elective Upper Airway Procedures: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.Paediatric anaesthesia · 2026Article
- Article
- Evaluating Modified Early Warning Score Compliance to Minimize Unnecessary Intensive Care Unit Admissions: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Needs Assessment at a University Teaching Tertiary Care Centre to Inform Quality Improvement Implementation.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- Critical care access and outcomes in residents of inpatient-care catchment areas with and without ICUs: a nationwide cohort study in Japan.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2026Article
- Predictors of ICU mortality in septic patients in a resource-limited African setting: a prospective multicenter cohort study in Lubumbashi, DRC.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the implementation of the Critical Care Asia and Africa Intensive Care Unit registry in Ethiopia.World journal of critical care medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluating deep learning sepsis prediction models in ICUs under distribution shift: a multi-centre retrospective cohort study.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of early warning scores in predicting in-hospital mortality and adverse events in adult general-ward patients in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2026Article
- Development and pilot testing of the AMPS model for predicting ICU mortality in low and middle income countries.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Overcoming barriers to pediatric intensive care in low-resource settings: an institutional experience from Northeast India.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Severe community-acquired pneumonia: an integral approach.Journal of intensive care · 2026Review
- Proposed intensive care unit triage models lack predictive validity for hospital mortality to deal with catastrophes: insights from a cohort study.Critical care science · 2026Article
134 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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 at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeAccess to critical care is a crucial component of healthcare systems. In low-income countries, the burden of critical illness is substantial, but the capacity to provide care for critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) is unknown. Our aim was to systematically review the published literature to estimate the current ICU capacity in low-income countries.
methodsWe searched 11 databases and included studies of any design, published 2004-August 2014, with data on ICU capacity for pediatric and adult patients in 36 low-income countries (as defined by World Bank criteria; population 850 million). Neonatal, temporary, and military ICUs were excluded. We extracted data on ICU bed numbers, capacity for mechanical ventilation, and information about the hospital, including referral population size, public accessibility, and the source of funding. Analyses were descriptive.
resultsOf 1,759 citations, 43 studies from 15 low-income countries met inclusion criteria. They described 36 individual ICUs in 31 cities, of which 16 had population greater than 500,000, and 14 were capital cities. The median annual ICU admission rate was 401 (IQR 234-711; 24 ICUs with data) and median ICU size was 8 beds (IQR 5-10; 32 ICUs with data). The mean ratio of adult and pediatric ICU beds to hospital beds was 1.5% (SD 0.9%; 15 hospitals with data). Nepal and Uganda, the only countries with national ICU bed data, had 16.7 and 1.0 ICU beds per million population, respectively. National data from other countries were not available.
conclusionsLow-income countries lack ICU beds, and more than 50% of these countries lack any published data on ICU capacity. Most ICUs in low-income countries are located in large referral hospitals in cities. A central database of ICU resources is required to evaluate health system performance, both within and between countries, and may help to develop related health policy.
Indexed as
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What 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.