ArticleBMC medical research methodology2016
Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT): software for exploring and comparing health inequalities in countries.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 134 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
134 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Leveraging artificial intelligence in the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of depression and anxiety among perinatal women in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMJ mental health · 2025Pooled it
- Global, regional, national burden of colorectal cancer from 1990 to 2021, with projections of incidence to 2050: a systematic analysis of the global burden of disease study 2021.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Sex-stratified mortality trends in preterm birth complications in Sierra Leone: progress, persistence, and equity implications.Global health action · 2026Article
- Sex-disaggregated age-standardized crude suicide rates in Sierra Leone, 2000-2019.International health · 2026Article
- Using the WHO Health Equity Assessment Toolkit to investigate changes in rural vs urban malnutrition inequality for low- and middle-income countries.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Trends and inequalities in acute respiratory tract infections in Indonesia: an application of the World Health Organization's Health Equity Assessment Toolkit.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Article
- Progress and gaps in childhood immunization among two-year-olds in Ghana (1993-2022): A trend and equity analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Uneven progress: trends and social inequalities in women's empowerment domains in Ghana from 2003-2022.Frontiers in sociology · 2026Article
- A comparative analysis of inequalities in sexual violence before age 18 among women in Ghana using the WHO health equity assessment toolkit, 2008 and 2022.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Residence-based inequalities among women and girls aged 15-49 years using reusable and single-use menstrual materials in Ghana: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2026Article
- State-Level Variations in Hypertension Management and Cardiovascular Disease Risks in India: Public Spending on Health and Socioeconomic Inequalities.Gerontology · 2026Article
- Inequalities in financial burden of tuberculosis among affected families across 19 low- and middle-income countries.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Quantifying the attributable burden of economic inequality on under-five mortality across ten African countries: a WHO HEAT-based analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Wealth-based inequalities in the uptake of three or more doses of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy in West Africa, 2015-2021.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Article
- Inequalities in the use of three-dose of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine among women in Sierra Leone, 2008-2019.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Determinants of equitable public health human resource allocation in China: a multidimensional analysis using RIF-I-OLS decomposition.Human resources for health · 2025Article
- Trends and inequalities in early breastfeeding initiation in Ghana.International breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
- Factors associated with inequalities in malnutrition among children in Ghana using the 2022 GDHS and WHO HEAT framework.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- Progress and inequalities in early initiation of breastfeeding among women in Sierra Leone, 2008-2019.International breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
74 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
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIt is widely recognised that the pursuit of sustainable development cannot be accomplished without addressing inequality, or observed differences between subgroups of a population. Monitoring health inequalities allows for the identification of health topics where major group differences exist, dimensions of inequality that must be prioritised to effect improvements in multiple health domains, and also population subgroups that are multiply disadvantaged. While availability of data to monitor health inequalities is gradually improving, there is a commensurate need to increase, within countries, the technical capacity for analysis of these data and interpretation of results for decision-making. Prior efforts to build capacity have yielded demand for a toolkit with the computational ability to display disaggregated data and summary measures of inequality in an interactive and customisable fashion that would facilitate interpretation and reporting of health inequality in a given country.
methodsTo answer this demand, the Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT), was developed between 2014 and 2016. The software, which contains the World Health Organization's Health Equity Monitor database, allows the assessment of inequalities within a country using over 30 reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health indicators and five dimensions of inequality (economic status, education, place of residence, subnational region and child's sex, where applicable). RESULTS/
conclusionHEAT was beta-tested in 2015 as part of ongoing capacity building workshops on health inequality monitoring. This is the first and only application of its kind; further developments are proposed to introduce an upload data feature, translate it into different languages and increase interactivity of the software. This article will present the main features and functionalities of HEAT and discuss its relevance and use for health inequality monitoring.
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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.