Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35010261›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021

Occupational Hearing Loss for Platinum Miners in South Africa: A Case Study of Data Sharing Practices and Ethical Challenges in the Mining Industry.

Liepollo Ntlhakana, Gill Nelson, Katijah Khoza-Shangase, Elton Dorkin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article 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 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
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.

Liepollo NtlhakanaFaculty of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa.
Gill NelsonFaculty of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0001-7815-3718
Katijah Khoza-ShangaseDepartment of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, School of Human and Community Development, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-6220-9606
Elton DorkinAnglo American, Johannesburg 2091, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe relevant legislation ensures confidentiality and has paved the way for data handling and sharing. However, the industry remains uncertain regarding big data handling and sharing practices for improved healthcare delivery and medical research.

methodsA semi-qualitative cross-sectional study was used which entailed analysing miners' personal health records from 2014 to 2018. Data were accessed from the audiometry medical surveillance database (n = 480), the hearing screening database (n = 24,321), and the occupational hygiene database (n = 15,769). Ethical principles were applied to demonstrate big data protection and sharing.

resultsSome audiometry screening and occupational hygiene records were incomplete and/or inaccurate (N = 4675). The database containing medical disease and treatment records could not be accessed. Ethical challenges included a lack of clarity regarding permission rights when sharing big data, and no policy governing the divulgence of miners' personal and medical records for research.

conclusionThis case study illustrates how research can be effectively, although not maliciously, obstructed by the strict protection of employee medical data. Clearly communicated company policies should be developed for the sharing of workers' records in the mining industry to improve HCPs.

Indexed as

Hearing Loss, Noise-InducedMinersOccupational DiseasesCross-Sectional StudiesHumansInformation DisseminationPlatinumSouth AfricaPlatinumaudiometryelectronic dataethical principleshealthcare providersmachine learning systemsoccupational exposurespersonal data

Identifiers

PMID35010261
PMCPMC8750121

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.