Commonly administered drug regimens from the 129 studies collecting data on the efficacy of drugs for treating ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm.

<p>These regimens account for the majority (89%) of IPD suitable for efficacy estimation. Other miscellaneous drugs or regimens administered include variations on the common mebendazole regimens, levamisole, diethylcarbamazine (DEC), and plant extracts tested for their anthelmintic effect. There are also some treatments which were not reported in enough detail to characterise.</p

Geographical coverage of studies collecting data on the efficacy of drugs for treating ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm.

<p>The 39 countries with studies generating individual participant data (IPD) suitable for estimating drug efficacy are shaded blue, with darker shades corresponding to higher estimated abundance of IPD. Five of these, with a red border, do not require preventive chemotherapy and transmission control (PCT) for soil-transmitted helminthiases [<a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006053#pntd.0006053.ref024" target="_blank">24</a>] (infection prevalence <20%). while the other 34 require PCT. The 69 countries shaded in yellow had no studies identified here, and have been designated by the World Health Organization as requiring PCT. The map was created using freely available country outline data from Natural Earth (naturalearthdata.com).</p

Number of cohorts and estimated number of individual participant data by key age groups from 128 of the 129 studies on the efficacy of drugs for treating ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm.

<p>Age groups are assigned according to reporting of the study, which does not always coincide with World Health Organization definitions.</p

Glossary of key terms from the variable dictionary.

<p>Glossary of key terms from the variable dictionary.</p

Histogram and box plot showing the right-skewed distribution of the estimated number of individual participant data (IPD) per cohort from 129 studies collecting data on the efficacy of drugs for treating ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm.

<p>The median estimated cohort size is 146 with a range from 3 to 1,835, with 15 cohorts having no estimate calculated.</p

Summary of main diagnostic methods used to detect and count eggs in the feces of participants in 129 studies collecting data on the efficacy of drugs for treating ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm.

<p>Summary of main diagnostic methods used to detect and count eggs in the feces of participants in 129 studies collecting data on the efficacy of drugs for treating ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm.</p

Variation in samples and repeats used with the Kato-Katz technique.

<p>Number of cohorts (and number of estimated individual participant data in parentheses) from the subset comprising 91 studies collecting data on the efficacy of drugs for treating the soil-transmitted helminthiases ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm in which infection was diagnosed, primarily using a Kato-Katz method, before (a) or after (b) treatment by performing <i>X</i> × <i>Y</i> (samples × replicates) egg counts.</p

Heterogeneity in efficacy measures reported from cohorts collecting data on the efficacy of drugs for treating ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm.

<p>Bar (a) shows the total number of cohorts for which measuring drug efficacy against those STHs with a parasitological measure as an outcome was a primary aim. Bar (b) shows the number of cohorts reporting any efficacy measure or appropriate pre- and post-treatment data, divided from left to right into: egg reduction rate (ERR) only; ERR and cure rate (CR), and CR only. Bar (c) shows the total number of cohorts reporting ERR or a pre- and post-treatment measure of intensity, divided from left to right into those: reporting medians; calculating ERR using or reporting log-transformed values; using an arithmetic mean (AM) or both an AM and a geometric mean (GM); using a GM only with a method given; using a GM only with unreported method, and using an unclear measure of central tendency.</p