Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27915460›Full record

SynthesisThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews2016

Zinc supplementation for the prevention of pneumonia in children aged 2 months to 59 months.

Zohra S Lassi, Anoosh Moin, Zulfiqar A Bhutta

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

Synthesis in The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
64citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
8.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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

64 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 199 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Zinc supplementation for improving pregnancy and infant outcome.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021
    Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Zinc supplementation for the treatment of measles in children.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017
    Pooled it
  10. Review
  11. Case Report: Identification of aFrontiers in genetics · 2026
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Functional Food Ingredients Enhancing Immune Health.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. The "Magnificent Seven" in Oral and Systemic Health against COVID-19.Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2025
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Review

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

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Zohra S LassiThe Robinson Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 5005.
Anoosh MoinDivision of Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University Hospital, Stadium Road, PO Box 3500, Karachi, Pakistan, 74800.
Zulfiqar A BhuttaCenter for Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5G A04.
Aga Khan University Hospital · PKHospital for Sick Children · CAUniversity of Adelaide · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPneumonia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children younger than five years of age. Most deaths occur during infancy and in low-income countries. Daily zinc supplements have been reported to prevent acute lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) and reduce child mortality. This is an update of a review first published in 2010.

objectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of zinc supplementation in the prevention of pneumonia in children aged two to 59 months. SEARCH

methodsWe searched CENTRAL (Issue 21 October 2016), MEDLINE (1966 to October 2016), Embase (1974 to October 2016), LILACS (1982 to October 2016), CINAHL (1981 to October 2016), Web of Science (1985 to October 2016) and IMSEAR (1980 to October 2016). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating zinc supplementation for the prevention of pneumonia in children aged from 2 months to 59 months. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. MAIN

resultsWe did not identify any new studies for inclusion in this update. We included six studies that involved 5193 participants.Analysis showed that zinc supplementation reduced the incidence of pneumonia by 13% (fixed-effect risk ratio (RR) 0.87; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81 to 0.94, six studies, low-quality evidence) and prevalence of pneumonia by 41% (random-effects RR 0.59; 95% CI 0.35 to 0.99, one study, n = 609, low-quality evidence). On subgroup analysis, we found that zinc reduced the incidence of pneumonia defined by specific clinical criteria by 21% (i.e. confirmation by chest examination or chest radiograph) (fixed-effect RR 0.79; 95% CI 0.0.71 to 0.88, four studies, n = 3261), but had no effect on lower specificity pneumonia case definition (i.e. age-specific fast breathing with or without lower chest indrawing) (fixed-effect RR 0.95; 95% CI 0.86 to 1.06, four studies, n = 1932). AUTHORS'

conclusionsZinc supplementation in children is associated with a reduction in the incidence and prevalence of pneumonia.

Indexed as

Child, PreschoolGluconatesHumansInfantPneumoniaRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicZinc AcetateZinc CompoundsZinc SulfateGluconatesZinc AcetateZinc CompoundsZinc Sulfate

Identifiers

PMID27915460
PMCPMC6463931
OpenAlexW2132653841

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.