Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32289100›Full record

ArticleInfectious Disease Modelling2020

Why is it difficult to accurately predict the COVID-19 epidemic?

Weston C Roda, Marie B Varughese, Donglin Han, Michael Y Li

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Infectious Disease Modelling, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 240 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
240citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
21.7field-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

240 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 687 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Pooled it
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180 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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Weston C RodaDepartment of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G1 Canada.
Marie B VarugheseAnalytics and Performance Reporting Branch, Alberta Health, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 2N3, Canada.
Donglin HanDepartment of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G1 Canada.
Michael Y LiDepartment of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G1 Canada.
University of Alberta · CAAlberta Health · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Since the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan City in December of 2019, numerous model predictions on the COVID-19 epidemics in Wuhan and other parts of China have been reported. These model predictions have shown a wide range of variations. In our study, we demonstrate that nonidentifiability in model calibrations using the confirmed-case data is the main reason for such wide variations. Using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) for model selection, we show that an SIR model performs much better than an SEIR model in representing the information contained in the confirmed-case data. This indicates that predictions using more complex models may not be more reliable compared to using a simpler model. We present our model predictions for the COVID-19 epidemic in Wuhan after the lockdown and quarantine of the city on January 23, 2020. We also report our results of modeling the impacts of the strict quarantine measures undertaken in the city after February 7 on the time course of the epidemic, and modeling the potential of a second outbreak after the return-to-work in the city.

Indexed as

Bayesian inferenceCOVID-19 epidemic in WuhanModel selectionNonidentifiabilityPeak time of epidemicQuarantineSIR and SEIR models

Identifiers

PMID32289100
PMCPMC7104073
OpenAlexW3012864042

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.