Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36303211›Full record

ArticleMalaria journal2022

Development and validation of an online tool for assessment of health care providers' management of suspected malaria in an area, where transmission has been interrupted.

Hosein Azizi, Reza Majdzadeh, Ayat Ahmadi, Ahmad Raeisi, Maryam Nazemipour, Mohammad Ali Mansournia, Allan Schapira

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Malaria journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 19% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. 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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Hosein AziziDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Reza MajdzadehSchool of Health and Social Care, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
Ayat AhmadiKnowledge Utilization Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ahmad RaeisiNational Programme Manager for Malaria Elimination, Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Maryam NazemipourDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mohammad Ali MansourniaDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mansournia_ma@yahoo.com.
Allan SchapiraBicol University College of Medicine, Legazpi City, Philippines.
Tehran University of Medical Sciences · IRBicol University · PHTabriz University of Medical Sciences · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe alertness and practice of health care providers (HCPs) in the correct management of suspected malaria (CMSM) (vigilance) is a central component of malaria surveillance following elimination, and it must be established before malaria elimination certification can be granted. This study was designed to develop and validate a rapid tool, Simulated Malaria Online Tool (SMOT), to evaluate HCPs' practice in relation to the CMSM.

methodsThe study was conducted in East Azerbaijan Province, Islamic Republic of Iran, where no malaria transmission has been reported since 2005. An online tool presenting a suspected malaria case for detection of HCPs' failures in recognition, diagnosis, treatment and reporting was developed based on literature review and expert opinion. A total of 360 HCPs were allocated to two groups. In one group their performance was tested by simulated patient (SP) methodology as gold standard, and one month later by the online tool to allow assessment of its sensitivity. In the other group, they were tested only by the online tool to allow assessment of any possible bias incurred by the exposure to SPs before the tool.

resultsThe sensitivity of the tool was (98.7%; CI 93.6-99.3). The overall agreement and kappa statistics were 96.6% and 85.6%, respectively. In the group tested by both methods, the failure proportion by SP was 86.1% (CI 80.1-90.8) and by tool 87.2% (CI 81.4-91.7). In the other group, the tool found 85.6% (CI 79.5-90.3) failures. There were no significant differences in detecting failures within or between the groups.

conclusionThe SMOT tool not only showed high validity for detecting HCPs' failures in relation to CMSM, but it had high rates of agreement with the real-world situation, where malaria transmission has been interrupted. The tool can be used by program managers to evaluate HCPs' performance and identify sub-groups, whose malaria vigilance should be strengthened. It could also contribute to the evidence base for certification of malaria elimination, and to strengthening prevention of re-establishment of malaria transmission.

Indexed as

MalariaHealth PersonnelHumansIranHealth workersMalaria eliminationOnline toolSimulated patientSuspected malariaValidity

Identifiers

PMID36303211
PMCPMC9612597
OpenAlexW4307638773

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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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.