SynthesisBMJ open2023
Health inequalities in infectious diseases: a systematic overview of reviews.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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
30 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care tests for acute respiratory infection: a systematic review of reviews.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Pooled it
- The intersection of the social determinants of health and antimicrobial resistance in human populations: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Neighborhood-level income and MRSA infection risk in the USA: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Social Determinants of Health Are Associated With Increased Risk of Preoperative Methicillin-ResistantArthroplasty today · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic inequalities in maternal infections during pregnancy: administrative health data evidence from a large UK urban area with high levels of inequality.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal heterogeneity and socioeconomic determinants of syphilis incidence in Xining, Northwest China: a geospatial analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic status and migration background as predictors of complicated lower respiratory tract infections in primary care.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- A eureka moment - using coalface data for discovery on TB disease and financial relief.IJTLD open · 2026Article
- Assessing the association between elements of health inequalities and the risk of bacterial infection in high-income countries: a systematic scoping review.Access microbiology · 2026Review
- Perceptions of research participation among underrepresented groups: Insights using freelisting methodology.PloS one · 2026Article
- Spatial Patterns and Epidemiological Drivers of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreaks in Uganda.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2026Article
- Individual and neighborhood based socioeconomic factors relevant for contact behaviour and epidemic control.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Knowledge and Preventive Practices Toward COVID-19 Among Sex Workers in Chiang Mai, Thailand.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- The relationship between socio-economic inequity indicators and 4CMenB vaccination rates in infants and adolescents in Spain: An ecological correlation study.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Article
- Closing the Gap in Race-based Inequities for Seasonal Influenza Hospitalizations: A Modeling Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- Association of factors linked to health inequalities and the risk of antibiotic-resistant infection in high-income countries: a systematic scoping review.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Review
- Genomic epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Wales.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effect of COVID-19 vaccination appointment letters on uptake by sociodemographic characteristics: a regression discontinuity analysis in Sweden, December 2020 to September 2021.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Infectious Disease Surveillance, Diagnosis, and Prognosis.Viruses · 2025Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe aim of this systematic overview of reviews was to synthesise available evidence on inequalities in infectious disease based on three dimensions of inequalities; inclusion health groups, protected characteristics and socioeconomic inequalities.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and OpenGrey databases in November 2021. We included reviews published from the year 2000 which examined inequalities in the incidence, prevalence or consequences of infectious diseases based on the dimensions of interest. Our search focused on tuberculosis, HIV, sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis C, vaccination and antimicrobial resistance. However, we also included eligible reviews of any other infectious diseases. We appraised the quality of reviews using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews V.2 (AMSTAR2) checklist. We conducted a narrative data synthesis.
resultsWe included 108 reviews in our synthesis covering all the dimensions of inequalities for most of the infectious disease topics of interest, however the quality and volume of review evidence and consistency of their findings varied. The existing literature reviews provide strong evidence that people in inclusion health groups and lower socioeconomic status are consistently at higher risk of infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and incomplete/delayed vaccination. In the protected characteristics dimension, ethnicity, and sexual orientation are important factors contributing to inequalities across the various infectious disease topics included in this overview of reviews.
conclusionWe identified many reviews that provide evidence of various types of health inequalities in different infectious diseases, vaccination, and antimicrobial resistance. We also highlight areas where reviews may be lacking. The commonalities in the associations and their directions suggest it might be worth targeting interventions for some high risk-groups that may have benefits across multiple infectious disease outcomes rather than operating purely in infectious disease siloes.
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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.