Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29025633›Full record

SynthesisThe Lancet. Global health2017

Association between male circumcision and women's biomedical health outcomes: a systematic review.

Jonathan M Grund, Tyler S Bryant, Inimfon Jackson, Kelly Curran, Naomi Bock, Carlos Toledo, Joanna Taliano, Sheng Zhou, Jorge Martin Del Campo, Ling Yang and 4 more

Erratum issuedOpen access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The Lancet. Global health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 39 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
7.4field-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

39 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021.MMWR. Recommendations and reports : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Recommendations and reports · 2021
    Guideline
  2. Epidemiology ofJournal of global health · 2019
    Pooled it
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  16. HIV infection.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2023
    Review
  17. What is the medical evidence on non-therapeutic child circumcision?International journal of impotence research · 2023
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jonathan M GrundUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global HIV and TB, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Tyler S BryantJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Inimfon JacksonJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Kelly CurranJhpiego, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Naomi BockUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global HIV and TB, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Carlos ToledoUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global HIV and TB, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Joanna TalianoLAC Group, Contractor to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Library Science Branch, Division of Public Health Information Dissemination, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Sheng ZhouJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Jorge Martin Del CampoJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Ling YangJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Apollo KivumbiJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Peizi LiJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Sherri PalsUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global HIV and TB, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Stephanie M DavisUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global HIV and TB, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address: smdavis@cdc.gov.
Johns Hopkins University · USCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · US

Funding

Intramural CDC HHS CC999999
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMale circumcision reduces men's risk of acquiring HIV and some sexually transmitted infections from heterosexual exposure, and is essential for HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies have also investigated associations between male circumcision and risk of acquisition of HIV and sexually transmitted infections in women. We aimed to review all evidence on associations between male circumcision and women's health outcomes to benefit women's health programmes.

methodsIn this systematic review we searched for peer-reviewed and grey literature publications reporting associations between male circumcision and women's health outcomes up to April 11, 2016. All biomedical (not psychological or social) outcomes in all study types were included. Searches were not restricted by year of publication, or to sub-Saharan Africa. Publications without primary data and not in English were excluded. We extracted data and assessed evidence on each outcome as high, medium, or low consistency on the basis of agreement between publications; outcomes found in fewer than three publications were indeterminate consistency.

findings60 publications were included in our assessment. High-consistency evidence was found for five outcomes, with male circumcision protecting against cervical cancer, cervical dysplasia, herpes simplex virus type 2, chlamydia, and syphilis. Medium-consistency evidence was found for male circumcision protecting against human papillomavirus and low-risk human papillomavirus. Although the evidence shows a protective association with HIV, it was categorised as low consistency, because one trial showed an increased risk to female partners of HIV-infected men resuming sex early after male circumcision. Seven outcomes including HIV had low-consistency evidence and six were indeterminate.

interpretationScale-up of male circumcision in sub-Saharan Africa has public health implications for several outcomes in women. Evidence that female partners are at decreased risk of several diseases is highly consistent. Synergies between male circumcision and women's health programmes should be explored.

fundingUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Jhpiego.

Indexed as

Circumcision, MaleFemaleHumansMaleRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicWomen's Health

Identifiers

PMID29025633
PMCPMC5728090
OpenAlexW2761030839

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.