Citation classics in systematic reviews and meta-analyses : who wrote the top 100 most cited articles?

Background: Systematic reviews of the literature occupy the highest position in currently proposed hierarchies of evidence. The aims of this study were to assess whether citation classics exist in published systematic review and meta-analysis (SRM), examine the characteristics of the most frequently cited SRM articles, and evaluate the contribution of different world regions. Methods: The 100 most cited SRM were identified in October 2012 using the Science Citation Index database of the Institute for Scientific Information. Data were extracted by one author. Spearman’s correlation was used to assess the association between years since publication, numbers of authors, article length, journal impact factor, and average citations per year. Results: Among the 100 citation classics, published between 1977 and 2008, the most cited article received 7308 citations and the least-cited 675 citations. The average citations per year ranged from 27.8 to 401.6. First authors from the USA produced the highest number of citation classics (n=46), followed by the UK (n=28) and Canada (n=15). The 100 articles were published in 42 journals led by the Journal of the American Medical Association (n=18), followed by the British Medical Journal (n=14) and The Lancet (n=13). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between number of authors (Spearman’s rho=0.320, p=0.001), journal impact factor (rho=0.240, p=0.016) and average citations per year. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between average citations per year and year since publication (rho = -0.636, p=0.0001). The most cited papers identified seminal contributions and originators of landmark methodological aspects of SRM and reflect major advances in the management of and predisposing factors for chronic diseases. Conclusions: Since the late 1970s, the USA, UK, and Canada have taken leadership in the production of citation classic papers. No first author from low or middle-income countries (LMIC) led one of the most cited 100 SRM

Factors that affect the uptake of community-based health insurance in low-income and middle-income countries : a systematic protocol

Many people residing in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are regularly exposed to catastrophic healthcare expenditure. It is therefore pertinent that LMICs should finance their health systems in ways that ensure that their citizens can use needed healthcare services and are protected from potential impoverishment arising from having to pay for services. Ways of financing health systems include government funding, health insurance schemes and out-of-pocket payment. A health insurance scheme refers to pooling of prepaid funds in a way that allows for risks to be shared. The health insurance scheme particularly suitable for the rural poor and the informal sector in LMICs is community-based health insurance (CBHI), that is, insurance schemes operated by organisations other than governments or private for-profit companies. We plan to search for and summarise currently available evidence on factors associated with the uptake of CBHI, as we are not aware of previous systematic reviews that have looked at this important topic

Evaluation of Oxidative Stress and some Biochemical Parameters in Normal Pregnant Women

Pregnancy is associated with many metabolic changes in normal pregnant woman, this leads to change in physiological, biochemical, and hematological parameters drastically. The test subjects were selected among those attending to Maternity Teaching Hospital in Erbil Governorate between March 2017 and August 2017. Four groups of individuals were included in this study, 230 pregnant women divided into three groups (Group 1 first trimester, Group 2 second trimester, and Group 3 third trimester) and Group 4 contained 90 nonpregnant women as control. Full automatic chemical analyzer (Cobas C311, Germany) was used to determine the biochemical parameters. The EL ×800 Absorbance Microplate Reader from BioTek (USA) instruments is used to measure the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum. The results of this study showed a significant increase in serum albumin, glucose, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, urea, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and MDA in pregnant women as compared to the control group, also show significant decrease in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level, SOD activity, and CAT activity in pregnant women as compared to nonpregnant women, and nonsignificant difference in uric acid, and HDL

Chemical Information from Proximate and Elemental Composition of Acalypha hispida Leaf

Communication in Physical Sciences 2020, 5(2): 240-245 Authors: Abdulazeez, N. C. Nwokem, I. L. Ibrahim, H. L. Zubairu, A. Uthman and M. Abubakar Received 17 May 2020/Accepted 28 May 2020  Proximate and elemental compositions of plant leaves can provide useful information on the nutritional benefits of the plant. Proximate and elemental analysis of Acalypha hispida leaves were conducted using official and recommended methods. The result obtained indicated that the plant leaf contain moisture (11.02%), crude fat (6.05%), total ash (10.17%), crude protein (13.17%), crude fibre (10.36%) and carbohydrate (48.65%). Analysis for the presence of some elements indicated the presence of essential elements, which included iron, zinc and copper. The toxic lead was also found to be present in the plant leaves as Fe, Zn, Cu and Pb. Iron had the highest mean concentration of 20.7mg/g while concentrations of Zn, Cu, and Pb were 0.230, 0.778 and 1.729 mg/g respectively. Concentration of these metal ions were within the tolerance and safe limits for the human nutrition

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a woman with adult-onset Still's disease: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Adult onset Still's disease is a chronic multisystemic inflammatory disorder characterized by high spiking fever, polyarthralgia and rash. Lymphadenopathy is a prominent feature of adult onset Still's disease and is seen in about 65% of patients. Searching the medical literature using the MEDLINE database from January 1966 through November 2007 we could only find two reported cases of adult onset Still's disease that had progressed to lymphoma. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a woman who was diagnosed with adult onset Still's disease and developed lymphoma 10 months after the onset of her symptoms. She initially presented with fever and arthritis of the knees, ankles and shoulders, along with a nonpruritic skin rash, myalgia and weight loss. On physical examination she was found to have several enlarged anterior cervical lymph nodes and left posterior auricular lymph nodes all of which were non-tender, immobile and rubbery. Excisional biopsy of the cervical lymph nodes was negative for malignancy. Bone marrow biopsy was also negative for malignancy. She was treated with prednisone. She remained in good health until she presented 10 months later with low back pain, dyspnea and weight loss. Work up revealed malignant lymphoma. She was treated with chemotherapy and was doing well until she presented with abdominal pain. Work up revealed a cirrhotic liver and ascites. She then passed away from hepatorenal syndrome 13 years after the diagnosis of lymphoma. To our knowledge, this is the third reported case of such an occurrence. CONCLUSION: Although the association between adult onset Still's disease and lymphoma has been rarely reported, careful screening for this malignancy in patients suspected to have adult onset Still's disease is warranted

Social disorganization and history of child sexual abuse against girls in sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel analysis

Social disorganization and history of child sexual abuse against girls in Sub-Saharan Africa: A multilevel analysis. Rights, 13(33) http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-698X-13-33 BMC International Health and Human Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-16049 Respondents from communities with a high family disruption rate were 57% more likely to have reported CSA (OR=1.57, 95% CI 1.14 to 2.16). Conclusion: We found that exposure to CSA was associated with high community level of family disruption, thus suggesting that neighbourhoods may indeed have significant important effects on exposure to CSA. Further studies are needed to explore pathways that connect the individual and neighbourhood levels, that is, means through which deleterious neighbourhood effects are transmitted to individuals

Quality of life measures in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A systematic review

In this study we systematically investigated the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) tools, which have been most often used over the last five years to evaluate the QoL in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), focusing on their items and applications. A detailed literature search was conducted: the inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) studies including at least 50 patients; 2) studies including at least 25 patients with SLE; 3) quality of life testing with validated measures. The systematic review was based on 119 studies for a total of 32,449 SLE patients and 3092 controls. A total of 35 different patients-reported quality of life measures, applied in cohorts of patients with SLE, were retrieved with the 36-item Medical Outcome Short Form (SF-36) (63 studies of 119 =52.95%), Lupus Quality of Life (LupusQoL) (17 studies =14.3%) and Lupus Patient-Reported Outcome (LupusPRO) (12 studies =10%) being the most commonly used tools. Overall, this systematic review of the literature indicated that quality of life in patients with SLE appears to be poor and generally lower compared to both the general population and patients with other chronic conditions, as was shown by a few studies that used SF-36 and LupusPRO. The use of HRQoL scoring in SLE is gaining increasing interest and is used both in randomized controlled trials and in real-life. Future efforts are needed to improve the understanding of the impact of the disease burden on quality of life from the patient's perspective

Mainstreaming implementation science into immunization systems in the decade of vaccines: A programmatic imperative for the African Region.

Several innovations that can improve immunization systems already exist. Some interventions target service consumers within communities to raise awareness, build trust, improve understanding, remind caregivers, reward service users, and improve communication. Other interventions target health facilities to improve access and quality of vaccination services among others. Despite available empirical evidence, there is a delay in translating innovations into routine practice by immunization programmes. Drawing on an existing implementation science framework, we propose an interactive, and multi-perspective model to improve uptake and utilization of available immunization-related innovations in the African region. It is important to stress that our framework is by no means prescriptive. The key intention is to advocate for the entire immunization system to be viewed as an interconnected system of stakeholders, so as to foster better interaction, and proactive transfer of evidence-based innovation into policy and practice

Transcutaneous bilirubinometry versus total serum bilirubin measurement for newborns

CITATION: Okwundu, C. I., et al. 2017. Transcutaneous bilirubinometry versus total serum bilirubin measurement for newborns. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 5:1-12, Art. CD012660, doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012660.The original publication is available at https://www.cochranelibrary.comThis is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Diagnostic test accuracy). The objectives are as follows: - To determine the diagnostic accuracy of TcB as: i) a diagnostic test for hyperbilirubinaemia in newborns suspected to have hyperbilirubinaemia on visual inspection; ii) a diagnostic test for monitoring bilirubin levels in newborns receiving treatment (e.g. phototherapy) for hyperbilirubinaemia. - To determine whether the gestational age, postnatal age, body weight, race and site of TcB measurement have any influence on the accuracy of TcB measurement for hyperbilirubinaemia in newborns.https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD012660/fullPublisher's versio