ArticleJournal of public health in Africa2025
The impact of a CD4 tiered service model on interlaboratory referral distances in South Africa.
Article in Journal of public health in Africa, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: South Africa has the world's largest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic. Most service gaps for cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) testing were previously addressed. Aim: This study aimed to assess the impact of a tiered service on interlaboratory referral distances. Setting: Data are reported for CD4 testing that are referred from a national network of laboratories. Methods: Test volumes were extracted for source and testing laboratories from 2012 to 2021. The Euclidean distances (EDs) were calculated, with the annual and provincial medians reported and categorised (50 km, 51 km - 99 km, 100 km - 199 km, 200 km - 299 km and ≥ 300 km). The relationship between ED, referrals and turnaround time (TAT) was analysed. The change in the provincial median ED between 2012 and 2021 was calculated. Results: Data included 14 487 006 referrals. The median ED ranged from 55 km to 60 km. An ED category of 51 km - 99 km, 100 km - 199 km, 200 km - 299 km and ≥ 300 km was reported for 35.1%, 13.2%, 3.5% and 0.3% of the specimens. A negative linear correlation was reported for ED with referral volumes (-0.1540) and TAT (-0.2305). The provincial median ED ranged from 16 km (Gauteng) to 186 km (Northern Cape). Excluding the Northern Cape, a provincial ED of ≤ 100 km was reported. The percentage change in median ED between 2012 and 2021 ranged from -55.7% (Free State) to 0.8% (Mpumalanga). Two source laboratories reported a median ED > 300 km in 2021 (Springbok and Beaufort West). Conclusion: The study's findings indicate that the decentralisation of services reduced the national median ED to below 60 km. Contribution: The tiered implementation improved accessibility, however, some coverage gaps still remain.
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.