Data type and definition used to classify 57 compliance papers included in the analysis.

Longitudinal compliance data was reported by both longitudinal studies (cohort, randomised controlled trials) and cross-sectional studies. Abbreviations: CDD–community drug distributor, DOT–directly observed treatment.</p

Workflow of screening and inclusion of studies as defined by the PRISMA guidelines.

Workflow of screening and inclusion of studies as defined by the PRISMA guidelines.</p

Summary overview of the 89 studies included in the analysis split by the epidemiological classification of cross-sectional or longitudinal data.

The full data extraction of the 165 studies is provided in S2 Data. Frequency and percentage of studies falling into each category is shown as “n (%)”. Note for ‘Sample Population’, each stratification totals the number of studies, whilst the remaining rows of the table represents a single stratum. Abbreviations: LF–lymphatic filariasis, N–number of studies, OV–onchocerciasis, preSAC–preschool-aged children, SAC–school-aged children, SCH–schistosomiasis, STH–soil-transmitted helminths.</p

Choropleth map of studies published globally from 2016 to 2022 (Papers).

Countries where no papers were published are shown in grey. Four studies are represented as 11 datapoints where studies reported data for more than one country, totalling 96 datapoints from 89 studies. (LF, OV, STH, SCH, Trachoma) Maps showing total population of each country requiring treatment for each of the five (PC)-NTDs. Note: STH map shows total preSAC and SAC population only requiring treatment. All maps have been focused to latitude less than 50 degrees. Data taken from WHO global observatory PCT databank [28]. Abbreviations: LF–lymphatic filariasis, OV–Onchocerciasis, SCH–schistosomiasis, STH–soil-transmitted helminths. Map data acquired from the open source tidyverse package using the map_data() function [29].</p

Fig 4 -

The difference between coverage and compliance figures reported by 21 studies as either proportions (A), raw data (B) or other parameters (C). Datapoints are coloured by the study type, either cross-sectional (13 studies, 69 datapoints) or longitudinal (8 studies, 104 datapoints). An average trendline of the reported data is shown in solid grey. The shaded line represents the conditional mean function using a linear model calculated by geom_smooth within the ggplot2 R package [21]. A guideline through intercept = 0 is shown to highlight the discrepancy between the two parameters.</p

A selection of the extracted columns for the 12 studies satisfying the criteria for individual-level data–both annually surveyed by CDD or self-reported by participants (grey shading), and self-reported during a cross-sectional analysis.

Available stratifications of compliance data are shown from the possible categories of age, gender, or location. The species targeted for control by MDA, and the drug offered for which compliance to is measured, is also given. The country, and the type and number of participants is also provided. The terminology used to describe compliance is shown, along with the ‘true’ definition according to this review given the numerator and denominator recorded (where given). Where there are incomplete numerator or denominators provided, compliance can only be assumed given the large heterogeneity of calculations used for the parameter. Abbreviations: ALB–Albendazole, IVM–Ivermectin, LF–lymphatic filariasis, OV–onchocerciasis, SAC–school-aged children, SCH–schistosomiasis, STH–soil-transmitted helminths.</p

Decision tree of MDA treatment behaviour, showing the three behavioural decision points of MDA delivery and their definitions, according to these previously defined parameters by Shuford et al. (2016) [8].

Decision tree of MDA treatment behaviour, showing the three behavioural decision points of MDA delivery and their definitions, according to these previously defined parameters by Shuford et al. (2016) [8].</p

The search strategy employed to generate the review.

The search strategy employed to generate the review.</p

PRISMA guidelines for full text of review and abstract.

PRISMA guidelines for full text of review and abstract.</p

The variety of parameters used to describe cross-sectional and longitudinal compliance.

The display shows the most frequently used parameters both correctly and incorrectly used to describe compliance. The frequency of parameter definition is proportional to circle size. Compliance is used most frequently to describe longitudinal compliance (n = 8), whereas treatment coverage was most frequently used to describe cross-sectional compliance (n = 4). The number of circles represent the number of parameters employed to define compliance. Figure hand-drawn by authors.</p