Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39933811›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Evaluation of quality policies and strategies in health systems: a scoping review.

Márcia Cunha da Silva Pellense, Pedro Jesús Saturno Hernández, Anna Cláudia Sales Gomes Caldas, Zenewton André da Silva Gama

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. 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

4 authors.

Márcia Cunha da Silva PellenseGraduate Program in Collective Health, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil marcia.pellense.801@ufrn.edu.br.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9400-6160
Pedro Jesús Saturno HernándezCentro de Investigación en Evaluación y Encuestas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
Anna Cláudia Sales Gomes CaldasState Department of Public Health of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.
Zenewton André da Silva GamaDepartment of Collective Health, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0818-9680

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesImproving the quality of care requires specific, comprehensive and continuous attention from the administration of a health system. However, information on evaluations of national and subnational policies and strategies for quality is lacking. This study aims to map studies evaluating policies and strategies for quality in health systems around the world.

designThis is a scoping review based on the guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). DATA SOURCES: The search for articles was carried out in the Embase, Medline/Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases and in the grey literature in July 2024. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Publications describing a tool for evaluating interventions for quality in the health system and studies containing at least one conceptual framework related to the evaluation of policies and strategies for quality in the health system, in any language, were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data selection was carried out independently by two reviewers, whose conflicts were resolved by consensus and the decision of a third reviewer. The findings were synthesised using a data extraction protocol adapted from two theoretical frameworks on National Quality Policies and Strategies proposed by the WHO.

resultsThe data search resulted in 133 potentially eligible studies, of which 14 studies were included in the review. We found 27 countries that had evaluated their policies or strategies, most of them in Asia (11) and Africa (9). Six studies used instruments to evaluate interventions for quality at the health system level. An instrument used in Afghanistan, Armenia, Guatemala and Mexico proved to be potentially useful for dissemination in other countries. Among the elements recommended by the WHO for the implementation of strategic policies for quality, the most present were governance and organisational structure.

conclusionsAlthough the evidence provides an indication of how countries have implemented their quality policies and strategies, we identified the need for tools to assess their impact on health systems.

Indexed as

Delivery of Health CareHealth PolicyQuality of Health CareHumansHealth policyHealth ServicesQuality Improvement

Identifiers

PMID39933811
PMCPMC11815438

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.