ArticleBMC public health2018
The application of system dynamics modelling to environmental health decision-making and policy - a scoping review.
Article in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- System dynamics modelling methods for public health policy evaluation: a systematic literature review focussing on mental health and substance use disorders.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Implementing system dynamics in hospital services to improve operational efficiency: An empirical research study.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Identifying the active ingredients in payment for performance programmes using system dynamics modelling.SSM - health systems · 2025Article
- Residents' perceptions of urban densification and health - a systems dynamics approach.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Optimal control strategies supported by system dynamics modelling: a study on hookworm disease in China.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2025Article
- A systemic approach to identifying sustainable community-based interventions for improving adolescent mental health: a participatory group model building and design protocol.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Combining community-based system dynamics and design thinking to inform public health intervention: a case study optimizing community-clinical linkage design in Brooklyn, NY.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Mapping the Dynamic Complexity of Hypertension Management in São Paulo, Brazil.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Environmental Support Moderates the association of Socioeconomic Distress and Delay Discounting across Adolescence.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2024Article
- Evolutionary game analysis of multi-agent cooperation strategy analysis in agricultural water conservancy PPP project under digitization background.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Use of systems thinking and adapted group model building methods to understand patterns of technology use among older adults with type 1 diabetes: a preliminary process evaluation.BMC medical research methodology · 2024Article
- Optimal decision-making in relieving global high temperature-related disease burden by data-driven simulation.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2024Article
- Article
- Forecasting municipal solid plastic waste generation and management policy using system dynamics: a case study of Khulna City in Bangladesh.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2024Article
- Reinforcing Feedbacks for Sustainable Implementation of Rural Drinking-Water Treatment Technology.ACS ES&T water · 2024Article
- Article
- A competency framework on simulation modelling-supported decision-making for Master of Public Health graduates.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2024Review
- Contributing to health system resilience during pandemics via purchasing and supply strategies: an exploratory system dynamics approach.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Systems science methods in public health: what can they contribute to our understanding of and response to the cost-of-living crisis?Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2023Article
- Making the invisible visible: Using a qualitative system dynamics model to map disparities in cumulative environmental stressors and children's neurodevelopment.Environmental research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPolicy and decision-making processes are routinely challenged by the complex and dynamic nature of environmental health problems. System dynamics modelling has demonstrated considerable value across a number of different fields to help decision-makers understand and predict the dynamic behaviour of complex systems in support the development of effective policy actions. In this scoping review we investigate if, and in what contexts, system dynamics modelling is being used to inform policy or decision-making processes related to environmental health.
methodsFour electronic databases and the grey literature were systematically searched to identify studies that intersect the areas environmental health, system dynamics modelling, and decision-making. Studies identified in the initial screening were further screened for their contextual, methodological and application-related relevancy. Studies deemed 'relevant' or 'highly relevant' according to all three criteria were included in this review. Key themes related to the rationale, impact and limitation of using system dynamics in the context of environmental health decision-making and policy were analysed.
resultsWe identified a limited number of relevant studies (n = 15), two-thirds of which were conducted between 2011 and 2016. The majority of applications occurred in non-health related sectors (n = 9) including transportation, public utilities, water, housing, food, agriculture, and urban and regional planning. Applications were primarily targeted at micro-level (local, community or grassroots) decision-making processes (n = 9), with macro-level (national or international) decision-making to a lesser degree. There was significant heterogeneity in the stated rationales for using system dynamics and the intended impact of the system dynamics model on decision-making processes. A series of user-related, technical and application-related limitations and challenges were identified. None of the reported limitations or challenges appeared unique to the application of system dynamics within the context of environmental health problems, but rather to the use of system dynamics in general.
conclusionsThis review reveals that while system dynamics modelling is increasingly being used to inform decision-making related to environmental health, applications are currently limited. Greater application of system dynamics within this context is needed before its benefits and limitations can be fully understood.
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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.