Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38626945›Full record

ArticleGlobal health, science and practice2024

How Can Community Data Be Leveraged to Advance Primary Health Care? A Scoping Review of Community-Based Health Information Systems.

Shivani Pandya, Lena Kan, Emily Parr, Claire Twose, Alain B Labrique, Smisha Agarwal

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Global health, science and practice, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Reducing inequities in access to postpartum hemorrhage prevention: Reframing advance distribution of misoprostol as a test case for health system responsiveness and adaptation.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026
    Article
  2. 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

6 authors.

Shivani PandyaCenter for Global Digital Health Innovation, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Lena KanCenter for Global Digital Health Innovation, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Emily ParrCenter for Global Digital Health Innovation, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Claire TwoseWelch Medical Library, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Alain B LabriqueDepartment of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Smisha AgarwalCenter for Global Digital Health Innovation, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. sagarw23@jh.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCommunity-based health information systems (CBISs) can provide critical insights into how community health systems function, and digitized CBISs may improve the quality of community-level data and facilitate integration and use of CBISs within the broader health system. This scoping review aims to understand how CBISs have been implemented, integrated, and used to support community health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

methodsBoth peer-reviewed and gray literature were included; relevant articles were identified using key terms and controlled vocabulary related to community/primary health care, health information systems, digital health, and LMICs. A total of 11,611 total records were identified from 5 databases and the gray literature. After deduplication, 6,985 peer-reviewed/gray literature were screened, and 95 articles/reports were included, reporting on 105 CBIS implementations across 38 countries.

resultsFindings show that 55% of CBISs included some level of digitization, with just 28% being fully digitized (for data collection and reporting). Data flow from the community level into the health system varied, with digitized CBISs more likely to reach national-level integration. National-level integration was primarily seen among vertical CBISs. Data quality challenges were present in both paper-based and digitized CBISs, exacerbated by fragmentation of the community health landscape with often parallel reporting systems. CBIS data use was constrained to mostly vertical and digitized (partially or fully) CBISs at national/subnational levels.

conclusionDigitization can play a pivotal role in strengthening CBIS use, but findings demonstrate that CBISs are only as effective as the community health systems they are embedded within. Community-level data are often not being integrated into national/subnational health information systems, undermining the ability to understand what the community health needs are. Furthermore, stronger investments within community health systems need to be in place broadly to reduce fragmentation and provide stronger infrastructural and systemic support to the community health workforce.

Indexed as

Community Health ServicesHealth Information SystemsPrimary Health CareDeveloping CountriesHumans

Identifiers

PMID38626945
PMCPMC11057800

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.