Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40969717›Full record

ArticleBMC digital health2025

Evaluating the performance of an automated respiratory rate counter in detecting fast breathing pneumonia in children using a reference video expert panel.

Ahad Mahmud Khan, Md Shafiqul Islam, Nabidul Haque Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Rezwana Tabassum, Sadia Afrin, Zannatul Ferdush Amin, Kazi Sazzadul Haque, Afroza Yeasmin Rumi, Jawata Rahman and 11 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC digital health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
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

21 authors.

Ahad Mahmud KhanProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.ORCID 0000-0002-4347-0825
Md Shafiqul IslamProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.ORCID 0009-0006-6109-7717
Nabidul Haque ChowdhuryProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.ORCID 0000-0002-6149-1152
Salahuddin AhmedProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.ORCID 0000-0001-6771-0638
Rezwana TabassumProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Sadia AfrinProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Zannatul Ferdush AminProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Kazi Sazzadul HaqueProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.ORCID 0009-0008-5914-198X
Afroza Yeasmin RumiProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Jawata RahmanProjahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Rakib BhuiyanUniversity of Greenwich, London, UK.
Rizouan Ur RashidUniversity of Greenwich, London, UK.
Kamrun NaharDepartment of Paediatrics, Shaheed Suhrawardi Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Robynne SimpsonRoyal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, UK.
Ayaz AhmedRoyal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, UK.
Md Mozibur RahmanDepartment of Neonatology, Institute of Child and Mother Health, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Ting ShiUsher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Abdullah H BaquiDepartment of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8350-1983
Steve CunninghamCentre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7342-251X
Eric D McCollumDepartment of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1872-5566
Harry CampbellUsher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6169-6262

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: According to the World Health Organization's Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) guidelines, childhood pneumonia diagnosis relies on counting respiratory rate (RR). Counting RR by health workers is frequently inaccurate, leading to misdiagnosis and poor outcomes. Automated RR counters could potentially overcome these limitations. To address this gap, we introduced an automated RR counter and developed a reference video expert panel (VEP) to evaluate its performance. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving children aged 0-59 months with suspected pneumonia in Bangladesh. The RR of children was counted using an automated counter (ChARM) and chest movements were simultaneously videotaped. These videos were interpreted by the VEP, trained to a standard procedure. We assessed ChARM's accuracy in comparison to the RR generated by the VEP and summarised the time taken to count RR by ChARM. Results: Among 339 enrolled children, ChARM successfully counted the RR of 294 children (86.7%). The VEP reached a consensus (i.e., RR count difference within two breaths per minute (bpm) between two VEP members) in 257 of the 294 children (87.4%). ChARM and the VEP agreed on RR counts within two bpm in 68.1% of children ( Conclusions: ChARM counted RR accurately against a VEP reference, indicating a potential role in supporting health workers to diagnose pneumonia. However, it was unsuccessful for 1 in 8 cases, typically those more clinically challenging, suggesting a possible systematic bias. Further research is needed to address these issues and confirm ChARM's reliability for broader use in real-world settings. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN14120515, registered retrospectively on 19 September 2024. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44247-025-00175-3.

Indexed as

Automated counterFast breathingPneumoniaReference standardRespiratory rateVideo expert panel

Identifiers

PMID40969717
PMCPMC12442458

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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.