Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37290500›Full record

ArticleJournal of theoretical biology2023

An adaptive testing strategy for efficient utilization of healthcare resources during an epidemic.

Sreenath Balakrishnan, Safvan Palathingal

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of theoretical biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

2 authors.

Sreenath BalakrishnanSchool of Mechanical Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Goa, Ponda, 403401, Goa, India; School of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Goa, Ponda, 403401, Goa, India. Electronic address: sreenath@iitgoa.ac.in.
Safvan PalathingalDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 502284, Telangana, India.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lockdowns are found to be effective against rapidly spreading epidemics like COVID-19. Two downsides to strategies rooted in social distancing and lockdowns are that they adversely affect the economy and prolong the duration of the epidemic. The extended duration observed in these strategies is often due to the under-utilization of medical facilities. Even though an under-utilized health care system is preferred over an overwhelmed one, an alternate strategy could be to maintain medical facilities close to their capacity, with a factor of safety. We explore the practicality of this alternate mitigation strategy and show that it can be achieved by varying the testing rate. We present an algorithm to calculate the number of tests per day to maintain medical facilities close to their capacity. We illustrate the efficacy of our strategy by showing that it reduced the epidemic duration by 40% in comparison to lockdown-based strategies.

Indexed as

COVID-19EpidemicsCommunicable Disease ControlDelivery of Health CareHumansSARS-CoV-2Adaptive testingEfficient healthcare usageEpidemic control

Identifiers

PMID37290500
PMCPMC10245284

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.