SynthesisWaste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA2023
Waste audits in healthcare: A systematic review and description of best practices.
Synthesis in Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of water, sanitation, and hygiene practices in developing countries: exploring the effects on public health.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Healthcare waste in German hospitals: A nationwide benchmark study.Waste management & research : the journal of the International Solid Wastes and Public Cleansing Association, ISWA · 2026Article
- Sustainable Management of Medical Waste in Surgical Units: Operational Challenges and Policy Perspectives.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Waste Generation in Pediatric Orthopaedic Hardware Removal Surgery.Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America · 2026Article
- Environmental footprint of in-center hemodialysis in Türkiye: A national, scenario-based analysis of water, energy, and waste.PloS one · 2026Article
- [S1 guideline on sustainability in intensive care and emergency medicine].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2025Review
- The Green Maternity project: A midwife-led initiative to promote correct waste segregation on an Australian postnatal ward.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Healthcare Waste Toxicity: From Human Exposure to Toxic Mechanisms and Management Strategies.Journal of xenobiotics · 2025Review
- Article
- Past, present, and future of sustainable intensive care: narrative review and a large hospital system experience.Critical care (London, England) · 2024Review
- Who owns the waste created in orthopaedic surgery?Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Healthcare generates large amounts of waste, harming both environmental and human health. Waste audits are the standard method for measuring and characterizing waste. This is a systematic review of healthcare waste audits, describing their methods and informing more standardized auditing and reporting. Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, Inspec, Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection databases for published studies involving direct measurement of waste in medical facilities. We screened 2398 studies, identifying 156 studies for inclusion from 37 countries. Most were conducted to improve local waste sorting policies or practices, with fewer to inform policy development, increase waste diversion or reduce costs. Measurement was quantified mostly by weighing waste, with many also counting items or using interviews or surveys to compile data. Studies spanned single procedures, departments and hospitals, and multiple hospitals or health systems. Waste categories varied, with most including municipal solid waste or biohazardous waste, and others including sharps, recycling and other wastes. There were significant differences in methods and results between high- and low-income countries. The number of healthcare waste audits published has been increasing, with variable quality and general methodologic inconsistency. A greater emphasis on consistent performance and reporting standards would improve the quality, comparability and usefulness of healthcare waste audits.
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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.