Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30180848›Full record

SynthesisBMC health services research2018

Application of discrete event simulation in health care: a systematic review.

Xiange Zhang

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

Synthesis in BMC health services research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
76citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
29.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

76 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 256 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Application of Discrete Event Simulation Models for COPD Management: A Systematic Review.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. A System Dynamics Simulation Applied to Healthcare: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020
    Pooled it
  4. Simulation modeling validity and utility in colorectal cancer screening delivery: A systematic review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2020
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
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  10. Improved intrahospital transport time via proximity-based staff assignments.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2025
    Observational
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  15. Review
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16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Xiange ZhangDepartment of Health Care Management, Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Health sciences, University of Bremen, Grazer Str. 2a, 28359, Bremen, Germany. Xiange@uni-bremen.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3641-0178
University of Bremen · DE

Funding

China Scholarship Council 201608080200
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe objective was to explore the current advances and extent of DES (Discrete Event Simulation) applied to assisting with health decision making, as well as to categorize the wide spectrum of health-related topics where DES was applied.

methodsA systematic review was conducted of the literature published over the last two decades. Original research articles were included and reviewed if they concentrated on the topic of DES technique applied to health care management with model frameworks explicitly demonstrated. No restriction regarding the settings of DES application was applied.

resultsA total of 211 papers met the predefined inclusion criteria. The number of publications included increased significantly especially after 2010.101 papers (48%) stated explicitly disease areas targeted, the most frequently modeled of which are related to circulatory system, nervous system and Neoplasm. The DES applications were distributed unevenly into 4 major classes: health and care systems operation (HCSO) (65%), disease progression modeling (DPM) (28%), screening modeling (SM) (5%) and health behavior modeling (HBM) (2%). More than 68% of HCSO by DES were focused on specific problems in individual units. However, more attempts at modeling highly integrated health service systems as well as some new trends were identified.

conclusionsDES technique has been an effective tool to approach a wide variety of health care issues. Among all DES applications in health care, health system operations research occupied the most considerable proportion and increased most significantly. Health Economic Evaluation (HEE) was the second most common topic for DES in health care, but with stable rather than increasing numbers of publications.

Indexed as

Decision MakingSimulation TrainingCommunity Health ServicesCost-Benefit AnalysisDelivery of Health CareHumansOperations ResearchDiscrete event simulationHealth care managementSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID30180848
PMCPMC6123911
OpenAlexW2891174717

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.