SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Fecal Indicator Bacteria Data to Characterize Drinking Water Quality in Low-Resource Settings: Summary of Current Practices and Recommendations for Improving Validity.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potential effects of microorganisms on petroleum asphalt: a state-of-the-art review.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Review
- Article
- Recent developments in waterborne pathogen detection technologies.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2025Review
- Water, Sanitation, and Cholera in Sub-Saharan Africa.Environmental science & technology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) values are widely used to assess microbial contamination in drinking water and to advance the modeling of infectious disease risks. The membrane filtration (MF) testing technique for FIB is widely adapted for use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We conducted a systematic literature review on the use of MF-based FIB data in LMICs and summarized statistical methods from 172 articles. We then applied the commonly used statistical methods from the review on publicly available datasets to illustrate how data analysis methods affect FIB results and interpretation. Our findings indicate that standard methods for processing samples are not widely reported, the selection of statistical tests is rarely justified, and, depending on the application, statistical methods can change risk perception and present misleading results. These results raise concerns about the validity of FIB data collection, analysis, and presentation in LMICs. To improve evidence quality, we propose a FIB data reporting checklist to use as a reminder for researchers and practitioners.
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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.