ReviewAnnals of epidemiology2022
Positive deviance in health and medical research on individual level outcomes - a review of methodology.
Review in Annals of epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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.
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
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Experiences of pregnant and postpartum people of color engaged in a randomized clinical trial of medication to treat opioid use disorder during pregnancy: A "Positive Outliers" analysis.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Article
- A qualitative approach to understanding quality symptom management in routine oncology outpatient care: phase 1 of the symptom pathways project.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Leveraging the Positive Deviance Approach to Drive Behavior Change in Noncommunicable Diseases: A Scoping Review.Public health challenges · 2026Review
- Thriving in the First 1000 Days: Lessons from Positive Deviance Among Young Families.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Global trends of positive deviance research in public health: A bibliometric analysis (1976-2024).Preventive medicine reports · 2025Article
- Physicians' and Residents' Well-Being in Ecological System: A Scoping Review of Positive Deviance Strategies.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- An exploration of sub-national variability in institutional maternal mortality ratios in Kenya: a meta-analysis of the 2021 health facility data.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Why becoming a positive deviant for malaria prevention and control: a sequential explanatory mixed methods study in Bugesera district, Rwanda.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- The use of positive deviance approach to improve health service delivery and quality of care: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Using Electronic Health Records Data to Identify Strong Performers in Healthcare Quality Improvement.Perspectives in health information managemen · 2024Article
- Improving representation of Hispanic adults in a population-based cancer genetics cohort: Qualitative findings from the Healthy Oregon Project.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2024Article
- A Dual Perspective of Psycho-Social Barriers and Challenges Experienced by Drug-Resistant TB Patients and Their Caregivers through the Course of Diagnosis and Treatment: Findings from a Qualitative Study in Bengaluru and Hyderabad Districts of South India.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Positive Outliers: A Mixed Methods Study of Resiliency to Childhood Obesity in High-Risk Neighborhoods.Academic pediatricsArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPositive deviance as a methodology is increasing in application yet there is high variability in how this approach is applied in health services research.
methodsWe conducted a scoping review of the literature for positive deviance applied to health outcomes informed by PRISMA-ScR. We searched the literature from 1945 to 2020, including articles on positive deviance or positive outliers, and restricted to examining individual rather than organizational outcomes. We analyzed the methodology applied including the process of identifying deviants, the use of control groups, and the degree of community engagement.
resultsOur initial search identified 1140 manuscripts; we included 104 papers describing 98 studies, 11 topical and one miscellaneous category. Most studies used objective measures of health or survey-based responses to identify deviants from a sub-set of the population at risk. The use of controls was less common in some topics (hospital infections), whereas controls were universally applied in other topics (malnutrition). The degree of community engagement varied widely.
conclusionsPositive deviance would benefit from improvements in reporting and standardized approaches to defining deviance. Studies could be improved through clarified definitions of deviance/risk, explicit descriptions of community engagement, and more consistent use of controls.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.