Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38082276›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2023

COVID-19 vaccination effectiveness in the population of Friuli Venezia Giulia, North-East Italy. Control of bias associated with divergent compliance to policies in a test-negative case-control study.

Valentina Rosolen, Federico Turoldo, Gianna Zamaro, Flavio Del Bianco, Patrizio Pezzotti, Luigi Castriotta, Fabio Barbone

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 38% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. 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 4 institutions in 1 country.

Valentina Rosolen *Central Directorate for Health, Social Policies and Disability, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Via Cassa Di Risparmio 10, Trieste, 34121, Italy.
Federico Turoldo *Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Strada di Fiume 447, Trieste, 34149, Italy.
Gianna ZamaroCentral Directorate for Health, Social Policies and Disability, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Via Cassa Di Risparmio 10, Trieste, 34121, Italy.
Flavio Del BiancoPrevention Technical Platform, "AS FO" Western Friuli Health Authority, Via della Vecchia Ceramica 1, Pordenone, 33170, Italy.
Patrizio PezzottiDepartment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health (ISS), Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, 00161, Italy.
Luigi CastriottaCentral Directorate for Health, Social Policies and Disability, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Via Cassa Di Risparmio 10, Trieste, 34121, Italy.
Fabio BarboneCentral Directorate for Health, Social Policies and Disability, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Via Cassa Di Risparmio 10, Trieste, 34121, Italy. fbarbone@units.it.
Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia GiuliaUniversity of Trieste · ITIstituto Superiore di Sanità · ITUniversity of Udine · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVaccine effectiveness (VE) studies consolidate knowledge of real-world effectiveness in different contexts. However, methodological issues may undermine their conclusions: to assess the VE against COVID-19 within the Italian population, a specific threat to validity is related to the consequences of divergent compliance to the Green Pass policy.

methodsTo address this challenge we conducted a test negative case-control (TNCC) study and multiple sensitivity analysis among residents aged ≥ 12 in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (FVG), North-east Italy, from February 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022. Information regarding 211,437 cases of COVID-19 infection and 845,748 matched controls was obtained from the regional computerized health database. The investigation considered: COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death. Multiple conditional logistic regressions adjusted for covariates were performed and VE was estimated as (1-OR COVID-19

resultsFull-cycle VE against infection decreased from 96% (95% CI: 96, 97) in the Alpha period to 43% (95% CI: 42, 45) in the Omicron period. Booster dose raised the protection in Omicron period to 67% (95% CI: 66, 67). Against the evasive Omicron variant, the protection of the booster dose was 87% (95% CI: 83, 90) for hospitalization and 90% (95% CI: 82, 95) for death. The number of swabs performed was included as a covariate in the adjustments, and the mediation analysis confirmed that it was a strong mediator between vaccination and COVID-19-related outcomes.

conclusionsThe study suggests that, under similar TNCC settings, mediation analysis and adjustment for number of diagnostic tests should be included, as an effective approach to the challenge of differential testing behavior that may determine substantial selection bias. This correction allowed us to align with results from other studies that show how full-cycle VE against infection was initially high but decreased over time by variant circulation, counterbalanced by booster dose that raised protection across variants and outcome severity.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesCase-Control StudiesHumansPolicySARS-CoV-2COVID-19 VaccinesAlfa variantCOVID-19Delta variantMediation analysisOmicron variantSelection BiasVaccine effectiveness

Identifiers

PMID38082276
PMCPMC10714502
OpenAlexW4389547775

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.