Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28093533›Full record

Trial reportThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene2017

Effect of Deworming on Indices of Health, Cognition, and Education Among Schoolchildren in Rural China: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Chengfang Liu, Louise Lu, Linxiu Zhang, Renfu Luo, Sean Sylvia, Alexis Medina, Scott Rozelle, Darvin Scott Smith, Yingdan Chen, Tingjun Zhu

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 10% 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

21 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Review
  7. Article
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  15. Review
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  17. Article
  18. Prospects for elimination of soil-transmitted helminths.Current opinion in infectious diseases · 2017
    Review
  19. More Evidence on the Effects of Deworming: What Lessons Can We Learn?The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2017
    Article
  20. Observational
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 at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Chengfang LiuChina Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Louise LuFreeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Linxiu ZhangCenter for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Renfu LuoChina Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Sean SylviaSchool of Economics, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Alexis MedinaFreeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Scott RozelleFreeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Darvin Scott SmithStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
Yingdan ChenNational Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China.
Tingjun ZhuNational Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China.
Stanford University · USNational Institute for Parasitic Diseases · CNPeking University · CNChinese Academy of Sciences · CNRenmin University of China · CNYale University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

AbstractSoil-transmitted helminths (STHs) infect over one billion people worldwide. There is concern that chronic infection with STHs among school-aged children may detrimentally affect their development, including their health, cognition, and education. However, two recent Cochrane reviews examining the impact of deworming drugs for STH on nutrition, hemoglobin, and school performance found that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the literature provide an insufficient evidence base to draw reliable conclusions. This study uses a cluster-RCT to add to existing evidence by assessing the impact of a deworming intervention on nutrition, cognition, and school performance among schoolchildren in rural China. The intervention, implemented by local health practitioners in a setting with a baseline infection prevalence of 41.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 39.8%, 43.9%) and infection intensity of 599.5 eggs per gram of feces among positive-tested schoolchildren (95% CI = 473.2, 725.8), consisted of distributing a 400-mg dose of albendazole accompanied with educational training about STH infection, treatment, and prevention. The intervention was conducted twice over the course of the study-at baseline in May 2013 and later in November 2013. We found that the deworming intervention reduced both infection prevalence and infection intensity, but these declines in infection were not accompanied by an impact on outcomes of nutrition, cognition, or school performance. Our interpretation is that the impact of deworming was attenuated by the light infection intensity in our sample population. Evidence from future RCTs is needed to assess the effect of deworming on key outcomes in areas with moderate and severe worm infections.

Indexed as

CognitionAlbendazoleAnthelminticsChildChinaEducational StatusFemaleHealth StatusHelminthiasisHumansMaleMass Drug AdministrationNeuropsychological TestsNutritional StatusParasite Egg CountPrevalenceAlbendazoleAnthelmintics

Identifiers

PMID28093533
PMCPMC5462590
OpenAlexW2576169624

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.