Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27084338›Full record

ArticleSystematic reviews2016

International law's effects on health and its social determinants: protocol for a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression analysis.

Steven J Hoffman, Matthew Hughsam, Harkanwal Randhawa, Lathika Sritharan, Gordon Guyatt, John N Lavis, John-Arne Røttingen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Systematic reviews, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. International treaties have mostly failed to produce their intended effects.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022
    Pooled it
  2. Principles and methods of global legal epidemiology.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2022
    Article
  3. 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

7 authors.

Steven J HoffmanGlobal Strategy Lab, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Fauteux Hall, 57 Louis Pasteur St, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Ontario, Canada. steven.hoffman@uottawa.ca.
Matthew HughsamBachelor of Health Sciences Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Harkanwal RandhawaMichael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Lathika SritharanGlobal Strategy Lab, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Fauteux Hall, 57 Louis Pasteur St, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Ontario, Canada.
Gordon GuyattDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
John N LavisMcMaster Health Forum, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
John-Arne RøttingenDivision of Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn recent years, there have been numerous calls for global institutions to develop and enforce new international laws. International laws are, however, often blunt instruments with many uncertain benefits, costs, risks of harm, and trade-offs. Thus, they are probably not always appropriate solutions to global health challenges. Given these uncertainties and international law's potential importance for improving global health, the paucity of synthesized evidence addressing whether international laws achieve their intended effects or whether they are superior in comparison to other approaches is problematic.

methodsTen electronic bibliographic databases were searched using predefined search strategies, including MEDLINE, Global Health, CINAHL, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Dissertations and Theses, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, International Political Science Abstracts, Social Sciences Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation Index, PAIS International, and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Two reviewers will independently screen titles and abstracts using predefined inclusion criteria. Pairs of reviewers will then independently screen the full-text of articles for inclusion using predefined inclusion criteria and then independently extract data and assess risk of bias for included studies. Where feasible, results will be pooled through subgroup analyses, meta-analyses, and meta-regression techniques. DISCUSSION: The findings of this review will contribute to a better understanding of the expected benefits and possible harms of using international law to address different kinds of problems, thereby providing important evidence-informed guidance on when and how it can be effectively introduced and implemented by countries and global institutions. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42015019830.

Indexed as

Global HealthInternational LawMeta-Analysis as TopicSocial Determinants of HealthSystematic Reviews as TopicHumansInternational CooperationRegression AnalysisResearch DesignGlobal healthInternational cooperationJurisprudencePublic policySocial determinants of healthTreaties

Identifiers

PMID27084338
PMCPMC4833910

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.