Public and Global Health

Derivation and external validation of clinical prediction rules identifying children at risk of linear growth faltering

1. Sharia M Ahmed
2. Ben J Brintz
3. Patricia B Pavlinac
4. Lubaba Shahrin
5. Sayeeda Huq
6. Adam C Levine
7. Eric J Nelson
8. James A Platts-Mills
9. Karen L Kotloff
10. Daniel T Leung

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This work would be of interest to global health scientists, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where childhood stunting is an ongoing challenge, and to statisticians interested in building clinical prediction rules. The authors leveraged large, rich datasets from multi-center studies to build and validate predictive models. But by using change in growth, rather than absolute growth, as the only outcome, it may be missing children of concern who are already experiencing growth failure and require intervention but have reached a growth faltering floor.

Reviewed by eLife

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian population-based cancer screening activities and test coverage: Results from national cross-sectional repeated surveys in 2020

1. Paolo Giorgi Rossi
2. Giuliano Carrozzi
3. Patrizia Falini
4. Letizia Sampaolo
5. Giuseppe Gorini
6. Manuel Zorzi
7. Paola Armaroli
8. Carlo Senore
9. Priscilla Sassoli de Bianchi
10. Maria Masocco
11. Marco Zappa
12. Francesca Battisti
13. Paola Mantellini

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper provides important evidence for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening for breast, cervix, and colorectal cancer in Italy. The authors compared Invitation and examination coverage, as well as conducted telephone interviews, investigated the population screening test coverage, before and during the pandemic, according to educational attainment, perceived economic difficulties and citizenship. Their findings convincingly show that the lockdown and pandemic restrictions caused delays in screening activities but particularly increased the pre-existing individual and geographical inequalities in access.

Reviewed by eLife

An international observational study to assess the impact of the Omicron variant emergence on the clinical epidemiology of COVID-19 in hospitalised patients

1. Bronner P Gonçalves
2. Matthew Hall
3. Waasila Jassat
4. Valeria Balan
5. Srinivas Murthy
6. Christiana Kartsonaki
7. Malcolm G Semple
8. Amanda Rojek
9. Joaquín Baruch
10. Luis Felipe Reyes
11. Abhishek Dasgupta
12. Jake Dunning
13. Barbara Wanjiru Citarella
14. Mark Pritchard
15. Alejandro Martín-Quiros
16. Uluhan Sili
17. J Kenneth Baillie
18. Diptesh Aryal
19. Yaseen Arabi
20. Aasiyah Rashan
21. Andrea Angheben
22. Janice Caoili
23. François Martin Carrier
24. Ewen M Harrison
25. Joan Gómez-Junyent
26. Claudia Figueiredo-Mello
27. James Joshua Douglas
28. Mohd Basri Mat Nor
29. Yock Ping Chow
30. Xin Ci Wong
31. Silvia Bertagnolio
32. Soe Soe Thwin
33. Anca Streinu-Cercel
34. Leonardo Salazar
35. Asgar Rishu
36. Rajavardhan Rangappa
37. David SY Ong
38. Madiha Hashmi
39. Gail Carson
40. Janet Diaz
41. Rob Fowler
42. Moritz UG Kraemer
43. Evert-Jan Wils
44. Peter Horby
45. Laura Merson
46. Piero L Olliaro
47. ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Group

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript compares COVID-19 mortality during the pre-Omicron and Omicron emergence periods in several countries and finds evidence suggesting the Omicron variant was associated with lower mortality than previous dominant variants. This paper will be of interest to infectious disease scientists both for its content and its methods, as it validates that population-level variant frequency can be a good proxy for individual-level variant data to derive insights on variant biology with population data.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Lack of ownership of mobile phones could hinder the rollout of mHealth interventions in Africa

1. Justin T Okano
2. Joan Ponce
3. Matthias Krönke
4. Sally Blower

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study used 2017-2018 Afrobarometer surveys of more than 45,000 individuals to examine the association between the ownership of mobile phones and proximity to a health clinic in 33 African countries. Findings show that about 40% of people own smartphones and those who live closer to health clinics are more likely to own a mobile phone. This manuscript will be of interest to all people who are involved in the design and implementation of mHealth interventions in Africa.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Understanding disruptions in cancer care to reduce increased cancer burden

1. Kia L Davis
2. Nicole Ackermann
3. Lisa M Klesges
4. Nora Leahy
5. Callie Walsh-Bailey
6. Sarah Humble
7. Bettina Drake
8. Vetta L Sanders Thompson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The study presents patterns of cancer care disruption in southern Illinois and eastern Missouri in the summer of 2020. Survey results show factors that impact cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic, including group differences by race. The important findings provide solid evidence about variation in cancer care disruptions and opportunities to improve return to care.

Reviewed by eLife

The effect of calcium supplementation in people under 35 years old: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

1. Yupeng Liu
2. Siyu Le
3. Yi Liu
4. Huinan Jiang
5. Binye Ruan
6. Yufeng Huang
7. Xuemei Ao
8. Xudong Shi
9. Xiaoyi Fu
10. Shuran Wang

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This is a systematic review by meta-analysis about the effect of calcium supplementation on bone health in people under 35 years old. The authors found that calcium supplementation can significantly improve BMD and BMC in young people. Moreover, a better effect of calcium supplementation was shown in people who are at the plateau of their PBM. A unique feature of this study is that it focused on people at the age before achieving PBM or age at the plateau of PBM, which is different from previous studies that mainly focused on the elderly or children.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

A comparison of sleep-wake patterns among school-age children and adolescents in Hong Kong before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

1. Steven W.H. Chau
2. Samara Hussain
3. Sandra S.M. Chan
4. Oscar W.H. Wong
5. Jihui Zhang
6. Hongliang Feng
7. Kelly Y.C. Lai
8. Suk Ling
9. Suzanne H.W. So
10. Kelvin K.F. Tsoi
11. Yun Kwok Wing
12. Se Fong Hung
13. Patrick W.L. Leung

Reviewed by ScreenIT

COVID-19 is not an Independent Cause of Death

1. Marcia C Castro
2. Susie Gurzenda
3. Cassio M Turra
4. Sun Kim
5. Theresa Andrasfay
6. Noreen Goldman

Reviewed by ScreenIT

U.S. CDC support to international SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys, May 2020–February 2022

1. Amen Ben Hamida
2. Myrna Charles
3. Christopher Murrill
4. Olga Henao
5. Kathleen Gallagher

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Safety and superior immunogenicity of heterologous boosting with an RBD-based SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine in Chinese adults

1. Xiaoqiang Liu
2. Yuhua Li
3. Zhongfang Wang
4. Shouchun Cao
5. Weijin Huang
6. Lin Yuan
7. Yi-Jiao Huang
8. Yan Zheng
9. Jingjing Chen
10. Bo Ying
11. Zuoyun Xiang
12. Jin Shi
13. Jincun Zhao
14. Zhen Huang
15. Cheng-Feng Qin

Reviewed by ScreenIT