Meta-analysis and public policy: Reconciling the evidence on deworming-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Meta-analysis and public policy: Reconciling the evidence on deworming

Published:2024-06-10 Issue:25 Volume:121 Page:
ISSN:0027-8424
Container-title:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
language:en
Short-container-title:Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Author:

Croke Kevin¹^ORCID,Hamory Joan²,Hsu Eric³,Kremer Michael⁴⁵,Maertens Ricardo⁶,Miguel Edward³⁵,Więcek Witold⁴

Affiliation:

1. Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115

2. Department of Economics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019

3. Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

4. Department of Economics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

5. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 02138

6. Department of Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138

Abstract

The WHO recommends mass drug administration (MDA) for intestinal worm infections in areas with over 20% infection prevalence. Recent Cochrane meta-analyses endorse treatment of infected individuals but recommend against MDA. We conducted a theory-agnostic random-effects meta-analysis of the effect of multiple-dose MDA and a cost-effectiveness analysis. We estimate significant effects of MDA on child weight (0.15 kg, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.24; P < 0.001), mid-upper arm circumference (0.20 cm, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.37; P = 0.02), and height (0.09 cm, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.16; P = 0.02) when prevalence is over 20% but not on Hb (0.06 g/dL, 95% CI: −0.01, 0.14; P = 0.1). These results suggest that MDA is a cost-effective intervention, particularly in the settings where it is recommended by the WHO.

Funder

Stichting Dioraphte

Publisher

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Link

https://pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.2308733121

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