Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36223964›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2022

Identifying gaps in global evidence for nurse staffing and patient care outcomes research in low/middle-income countries: an umbrella review.

Abdulazeez Imam, Sopuruchukwu Obiesie, Jalemba Aluvaala, Jackson Michuki Maina, David Gathara, Mike English

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed
6.7field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
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

18 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Observational
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Development of a User-Centred Chronic Care Model for Patients With Heart Failure in a Limited-Resource Setting: A Codesign Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. 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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Abdulazeez ImamHealth Services Unit, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya abdulimam2001@yahoo.com.ORCID 0000-0001-5070-3060
Sopuruchukwu ObiesieCentre for Evidence-Based Intervention, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Jalemba AluvaalaHealth Services Unit, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.ORCID 0000-0002-0851-3711
Jackson Michuki MainaHealth Services Unit, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.ORCID 0000-0001-6874-8929
David GatharaWellcome Trust Research Program, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.
Mike EnglishHealth Services Unit, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.ORCID 0000-0002-7427-0826
Kenya Medical Research Institute · KEOxford Policy Management · GBUniversity of Nairobi · KE

Funding

Department of HealthWellcome Trust 092654Wellcome Trust 207522
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo identify nurse staffing and patient care outcome literature in published systematic reviews and map out the evidence gaps for low/middle-income countries (LMICs).

methodsWe included quantitative systematic reviews on nurse staffing levels and patient care outcomes in regular ward settings published in English. We excluded qualitative reviews or reviews on nursing skill mix. We searched the Cochrane Register of Systematic Reviews, the Joanna Briggs Institute Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, Medline, Embase and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature from inception until July 2021. We used the A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews -2 (AMSTAR-2) criteria for risk of bias assessment and conducted a narrative synthesis.

resultsFrom 843 papers, we included 14 in our final synthesis. There were overlaps in primary studies summarised across reviews, but overall, the reviews summarised 136 unique primary articles. Only 4 out of 14 reviews had data on LMIC publications and only 9 (6.6%) of 136 unique primary articles were conducted in LMICs. Only 8 of 23 patient care outcomes were reported from LMICs. Less research was conducted in contexts with staffing levels that are typical of many LMIC contexts. DISCUSSION: Our umbrella review identified very limited data for nurse staffing and patient care outcomes in LMICs. We also identified data from high-income countries might not be good proxies for LMICs as staffing levels where this research was conducted had comparatively better staffing levels than the few LMIC studies. This highlights a critical need for the conduct of nurse staffing research in LMIC contexts. LIMITATIONS: We included data on systematic reviews that scored low on our risk of bias assessment because we sought to provide a broad description of the research area. We only considered systematic reviews published in English and did not include any qualitative reviews in our synthesis. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021286908.

Indexed as

Developing CountriesOutcome Assessment, Health CareHumansPatient CareSystematic Reviews as TopicWorkforceHealth policyHealth & safetyPUBLIC HEALTHQuality in health care

Identifiers

PMID36223964
PMCPMC9562716
OpenAlexW4304695406

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.