Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27051612›Full record

ArticlePublic health action2016

Does research through Structured Operational Research and Training (SORT IT) courses impact policy and practice?

A M V Kumar, H D Shewade, J P Tripathy, N Guillerm, K Tayler-Smith, S Dar Berger, K Bissell, A J Reid, R Zachariah, A D Harries

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Public health action, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed
–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

20 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
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

10 authors.

A M V KumarInternational Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India.
H D ShewadeInternational Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India.
J P TripathyInternational Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India.
N GuillermThe Union, Paris, France.
K Tayler-SmithMedical Department, Operational Centre Brussels, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF-Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
S Dar BergerThe Union, Paris, France.
K BissellThe Union, Paris, France.
A J ReidMedical Department, Operational Centre Brussels, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF-Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
R ZachariahMedical Department, Operational Centre Brussels, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF-Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
A D HarriesThe Union, Paris, France ; London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

settingStructured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) courses are well known for their output, with nearly 90% of participants completing the course and publishing in scientific journals.

objectiveWe assessed the impact of research papers on policy and practice that resulted from six SORT IT courses initiated between July 2012 and March 2013.

designThis was a cross-sectional study involving e-mail-based, self-administered questionnaires and telephone/skype/in-person responses from first and/or senior co-authors of course papers. A descriptive content analysis of the responses was performed and categorised into themes.

resultsOf 72 participants, 63 (88%) completed the course. Course output included 81 submitted papers, of which 76 (94%) were published. Of the 81 papers assessed, 45 (55%) contributed to a change in policy and/or practice: 29 contributed to government policy/practice change (20 at national, 4 at subnational and 5 at hospital level), 11 to non-government organisational policy change and 5 to reinforcing existing policy. The changes ranged from modifications of monitoring and evaluation tools, to redrafting of national guidelines, to scaling up existing policies.

conclusionMore than half of the SORT IT course papers contributed to a change in policy and/or practice. Future assessments should include more robust and independent verification of the reported change(s) with all stakeholders.

Indexed as

Médecins Sans Frontièresoperational research capacity buildingpolicy and practiceThe UnionWHO/TDR

Identifiers

PMID27051612
PMCPMC4809729

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.