Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33177759›Full record

ArticleBulletin of the World Health Organization2020

The simplified trachoma grading system, amended.

Anthony W Solomon, Amir B Kello, Mathieu Bangert, Sheila K West, Hugh R Taylor, Rabebe Tekeraoi, Allen Foster

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
71citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

71 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Article
  7. Discrepancy Between Active Trachoma and Tests of Chlamydial Infection in Alto Amazonas, Peru.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026
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  18. Data Resource Profile: Global Trachoma Serology Data Repository.International journal of epidemiology · 2025
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  20. Article

11 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

7 authors.

Anthony W SolomonDepartment of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
Amir B KelloWorld Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo.
Mathieu BangertDepartment of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
Sheila K WestWilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States of America.
Hugh R TaylorMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Rabebe TekeraoiEye Department, Ministry of Health and Medical Services, South Tarawa, Kiribati.
Allen FosterInternational Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, England.

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A simplified grading system for trachoma was published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987. Intended for use by non-specialist personnel working at community level, the system includes five signs, each of which can be present or absent in any eye: (i) trachomatous trichiasis; (ii) corneal opacity; (iii) trachomatous inflammation-follicular; (iv) trachomatous inflammation-intense; and (v) trachomatous scarring. Though neither perfectly sensitive nor perfectly specific for trachoma, these signs have been essential tools for identifying populations that need interventions to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem. In 2018, at WHO's 4th global scientific meeting on trachoma, the definition of one of the signs, trachomatous trichiasis, was amended to exclude trichiasis that affects only the lower eyelid. This paper presents the amended system, updates its presentation, offers notes on its use and identifies areas of ongoing debate.

Indexed as

TrachomaTrichiasisCross-Sectional StudiesHumansLongitudinal StudiesPrevalence

Identifiers

PMID33177759
PMCPMC7652564

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.