ArticleBMJ open2023
Effectiveness of population-wide screening and mass drug administration for leprosy control in Kiribati: the COMBINE protocol.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Assessment of Antimicrobial Resistance in M. leprae Strains From Kiribati.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2026Article
- A Review of the Efficacy, Safety, and Feasibility of Rifamycin-Based Post-Exposure Chemoprophylaxis for Leprosy.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2025Review
- Single-Dose Rifampicin Leprosy Chemoprophylaxis for Household Contacts in Kiribati: An Audit of a Combined Retrospective and Prospective Approach.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2024Article
- Finding and treating both tuberculosis disease and latent infection during population-wide active case finding for tuberculosis elimination.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionProgress towards leprosy elimination is threatened by increasing incidence in 'hot-spot' areas where more effective control strategies are urgently required. In these areas, active case finding and leprosy prevention limited to known contacts is insufficient for control. Population-wide active case-finding together with universal prevention through mass drug administration (MDA) has been shown to be effective in 'hot-spot' areas, but is logistically challenging and expensive. Combining leprosy screening and MDA with other population-wide screening activities such as for tuberculosis may increase programme efficiency. There has been limited evaluation of the feasibility and effectiveness of combined screening and MDA interventions. The COMBINE study aims to bridge this knowledge gap. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This implementation study will assess the feasibility and effectiveness of active leprosy case-finding and treatment, combined with MDA using either single-dose rifampicin or rifamycin-containing tuberculosis preventive or curative treatment, for reducing leprosy incidence in Kiribati. The leprosy programme will run over 2022-2025 in concert with population-wide tuberculosis screening-and-treatment in South Tarawa. The primary research question is to what extent the intervention reduces the annual leprosy new case detection rate (NCDR) in adults and children compared with routine screening and postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) among close contacts (baseline leprosy control activities). Comparisons will be made with (1) the preintervention NCDR separably among adults and children in South Tarawa (before-after study) and (2) the corresponding NCDRs in the rest of the country. Additionally, the postintervention prevalence of leprosy obtained from a survey of a 'hot-spot' sub-population will be compared with prevalence documented during the intervention. The intervention will be implemented in collaboration with the Kiribati National Leprosy Programme. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approval has been obtained from the Kiribati Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), the University of Otago (H22/111) and the University of Sydney (2021/127) Human Research Ethics Committees. Findings will be shared with the MHMS, local communities and internationally through publication.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.