Articles

Hand Sanitiser Provision for Reducing Illness Absences in Primary School Children: A Cluster Randomised Trial

The potential for transmission of infectious diseases offered by the school environment are likely to be an important contributor to the rates of infectious disease experienced by children. This study aimed to test whether the addition of hand sanitiser in primary school classrooms compared with usual hand hygiene would reduce illness absences in primary school children in New Zealand. The authors found that the provision of hand sanitiser in addition to usual hand hygiene in primary schools in New Zealand did not prevent disease of severity sufficient to cause school absence.

Observational Studies: Getting Clear about Transparency

When publishing observational research, what information should journals make available to the medical community before a result can be considered sufficiently reliable to inform patient care or health policy? The PLOS Medicine editors, in recent consultation with our editorial board, endorse measures in four areas to advance transparency in the analysis and reporting of observational studies.

Breastfeeding practice and associated factors among female nurses and midwives at North Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia. A Cross sectional institution based study.

Essential interventions of maternal, newborn and child health

Worldwide, 250,000–280,000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth every year and an estimated 6.55 million children die under the age of five. The majority of maternal deaths occur during or immediately after childbirth, while 43% of child death occurs during the first 28 days of life. However, the progress in limiting these has been slow and sporadic. In this supplement of five papers, teh authors aim to systematically assess and summarize essential interventions for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health from relevant systematic reviews.

Community-Based Interventions for the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases of Poverty

This thematic series of eight papers provides an overview on infectious diseases of poverty and integrated community-based interventions, describes the analytical framework and the methodology used to guide the systematic reviews, reports findings for the effectiveness of community-based interventions for the prevention and control of helminthic NTDs, non-helminthic NTDs, malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and proposes a way forward. While previous reviews focus on process and effectiveness of integrated community-based interventions under real life field conditions, this series of papers evaluates the efficacy of such interventions with respect to disease or prevention outcomes.

Launch of the Global Health Research Process Map

On the 8th of July 2014 The Global Health Network launched the Global Health Research Process Map, the first digital toolkit designed to enable researchers anywhere in the world to conduct rigorous global health research.

Seven principles for strengthening research capacity in low- and middle-income countries: simple ideas in a complex world

This good practice document of the ESSENCE on Health Research initiative is designed to provide broad guidance on how best to strengthen research capacity with the maximum possible benefit. 

Impact of intrauterine growth restriction on long-term health

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is responsible for the higher rates of fetal, perinatal, and neonatal morbidity and mortality. This review details the IUGR risk factors, its short and long-term sequel, themechanism underlying the long-term consequences, and the strategies to tackle IUGR burden.

The association between obesity and blood pressure in Thai public school children

The prevalence of obesity has substantially increased in the past 3 decades in both developed and developing countries and may lead to an increase in high blood pressure (BP) at an early age. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity and its association with blood pressure among primary school children in central Thailand. Obesity among school children was positively associated with higher BP. Prevention of childhood obesity should be strengthened to prevent the risk of early high BP including cardiovascular risk factors.

The likeness of fetal growth and newborn size across non-isolated populations in the INTERGROWTH-21st Project: the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study and Newborn Cross-Sectional Study

Large differences exist in size at birth and in rates of impaired fetal growth worldwide. The relative effects of nutrition, disease, the environment, and genetics on these differences are often debated. In clinical practice, various references are often used to assess fetal growth and newborn size across populations and ethnic origins, whereas international standards for assessing growth in infants and children have been established. In the INTERGROWTH-21^st Project, our aim was to assess fetal growth and newborn size in eight geographically defined urban populations in which the health needs of mothers were met and adequate antenatal care was provided. Through the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study and Newborn Cross-Sectional Study, data showed that fetal growth and newborn length are similar across diverse georgraphical settings when mothers' nutritional and health needs are met, and environmental constraints on growth are low. The findings for birthlength are in strong agreement with the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS). These results provide the conceptual frame to create international standards for growth from conception to newborn baby, which will extend the present infant to childhood WHO MGRS standards. Download the PDF of the article here

Cesarean Section and Rate of Subsequent Stillbirth, Miscarriage, and Ectopic Pregnancy: A Danish Register-Based Cohort Study

With cesarean section rates increasing worldwide, clarity regarding negative effects is essential. This study aimed to investigate the rate of subsequent stillbirth, miscarriage, and ectopic pregnancy following primary cesarean section, controlling for confounding by indication. This study found that cesarean section is associated with a small increased rate of subsequent stillbirth and ectopic pregnancy. Underlying medical conditions, however, and confounding by indication for the primary cesarean delivery account for at least part of this increased rate. These findings will assist women and health-care providers to reach more informed decisions regarding mode of delivery.

Consumption of sweet foods and mammographic breast density: a cross-sectional study

The increasing consumption of sugar worldwide seems to lead to several health problems, including some types of cancer. This study examined the association of sweet foods and drinks intake with mammographic density among 776 premenopausal and 779 postmenopausal women recruited at mammography. The results suggest that an increase in sweet foods or sugar-sweetened beverage intake is associated with higher mammographic density.

INTERGROWTH-21st Study Forms

All of the forms that the INTERGROWTH-21^st Project used to implement their studies can be downloaded here.

Mobile phones support adherence and retention of Indigenous participants in a randomised controlled trial: strategies and lessons learnt

Ensuring adherence to treatment and retention is important in clinical trials, particularly in remote areas and minority groups. This paper describes a novel approach to improve adherence, retention and clinical review rates of Indigenous children. the use of mobile phones within an Indigenous-appropriate framework has been an effective strategy to support a clinical trial involving Australian Indigenous children in urban and remote Australia. Further research is required to explore other applications of this approach, including the impact on clinical outcomes.

Pediatric Oncology as the Next Global Child Health Priority: The Need for National Childhood Cancer Strategies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

While the last several decades have witnessed tremendous advances in cure rates for childhood cancer, these improvements have not translated to low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), where the majority of children reside. In this article, the authors outline why pediatric cancer should now be considered a global child health priority, describe the need for national childhood cancer strategies (NCCS), and highlight necessary policy components to reduce LMIC pediatric cancer mortality rates.

Maternal Overweight and Obesity and Risks of Severe Birth-Asphyxia-Related Complications in Term Infants: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Sweden

Maternal overweight and obesity increase risks of pregnancy and delivery complications and neonatal mortality, but the mechanisms are unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between maternal body mass index (BMI) in early pregnancy and severe asphyxia-related outcomes in infants delivered at term (≥37 weeks).

Methods for Specifying the Target Difference in a Randomised Controlled Trial: The Difference ELicitation in TriAls (DELTA) Systematic Review

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are widely accepted as the preferred study design for evaluating healthcare interventions. When the sample size is determined, a (target) difference is typically specified that the RCT is designed to detect. This provides reassurance that the study will be informative, i.e., should such a difference exist, it is likely to be detected with the required statistical precision. The aim of this review was to identify potential methods for specifying the target difference in an RCT sample size calculation.

Pakistan Food Fortification Scoping Study

Food fortification is safe and cost-effective in the prevention of micronutrient deficiencies and has been widely practiced in developed countries for well over a century. The findings in this report clearly support the utilization of food fortification strategies at scale, which could build on the recent success of the iodized salt programme. Given the widespread prevalence in Pakistan of deficiencies in iron and in vitamins A and D, food fortification strategies offer a tangible option for delivering these micronutrients on a large scale.

Novel biomarkers for predicting intrauterine growth restriction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Several biomarkers for predicting intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) have been proposed in recent years. However, the predictive performance of these biomarkers has not been systematically evaluated. This objective of this paper is to determine the predictive accuracy of novel biomarkers for IUGR in women with singleton gestations. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23398929

Intra- and interobserver variability in fetal ultrasound measurements

This paper assess the intra- and interobserver variability of fetal biometry measurements throughout pregnancy. Authors concluded that although intra- and interobserver variability increases with advancing gestation when expressed in milimeters, both are constant as a percentage of the fetal dimensions or when reported as a Z-score. Thus, measurement variability should be considered when interpreting fetal growth rates.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22535628