Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36698202›Full record

ReviewHealth research policy and systems2023

Limitations of COVID-19 testing and case data for evidence-informed health policy and practice.

Elizabeth Alvarez, Iwona A Bielska, Stephanie Hopkins, Ahmed A Belal, Donna M Goldstein, Jean Slick, Sureka Pavalagantharajah, Anna Wynfield, Shruthi Dakey, Marie-Carmel Gedeon and 2 more

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Health research policy and systems, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing 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

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

  1. Pooled it
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  14. Trends in Testing for SARS-CoV-2 Among Healthcare Workers in a Canadian Cohort Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic, June 2020 to November 2023.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2025
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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

12 authors.

Elizabeth AlvarezDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, CRL 2nd Floor, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S4K1, Canada. alvare@mcmaster.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2333-0144
Iwona A BielskaDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, CRL 2nd Floor, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S4K1, Canada.
Stephanie HopkinsDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, CRL 2nd Floor, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S4K1, Canada.
Ahmed A BelalDepartment of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, CRL 2nd Floor, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S4K1, Canada.
Donna M GoldsteinDepartment of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
Jean SlickDisaster and Emergency Management, Royal Roads University, British Columbia, Canada.
Sureka PavalagantharajahSchool of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Anna WynfieldDepartment of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
Shruthi DakeyDepartment of Architecture and Planning, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, India.
Marie-Carmel GedeonUniversity Integrated Health Center of the Nord-de-l'île de Montréal (CIUSSS NIM), Montréal, QC, Canada.
Edris AlamFaculty of Resilience, Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Katrina BouzanisDepartment of Global Health, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) became a pandemic within a matter of months. Analysing the first year of the pandemic, data and surveillance gaps have subsequently surfaced. Yet, policy decisions and public trust in their country's strategies in combating COVID-19 rely on case numbers, death numbers and other unfamiliar metrics. There are many limitations on COVID-19 case counts internationally, which make cross-country comparisons of raw data and policy responses difficult. PURPOSE AND

conclusionsThis paper presents and describes steps in the testing and reporting process, with examples from a number of countries of barriers encountered in each step, all of which create an undercount of COVID-19 cases. This work raises factors to consider in COVID-19 data and provides recommendations to inform the current situation with COVID-19 as well as issues to be aware of in future pandemics.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 TestingHealth PolicyHumansPandemicsSARS-CoV-2Case countCOVID-19EpidemiologyPhysical distancing policyTesting

Identifiers

PMID36698202
PMCPMC9876649

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.