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Combined Clinical Audits And Low-Dose, High-Frequency, In-Service Training Of Health Care Providers And Community Health Workers To Improve Maternal And Newborn Health In Mali: Protocol For A Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Trial, David Zombre, Jean-Luc Kortenaar, Farhana Zareef, Moussa Doumbia, Sekou Doumbia, Fadima Haidara, Katie Mclaughlin, Samba Sow, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Diego G. Bassani Dec 2021

Combined Clinical Audits And Low-Dose, High-Frequency, In-Service Training Of Health Care Providers And Community Health Workers To Improve Maternal And Newborn Health In Mali: Protocol For A Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Trial, David Zombre, Jean-Luc Kortenaar, Farhana Zareef, Moussa Doumbia, Sekou Doumbia, Fadima Haidara, Katie Mclaughlin, Samba Sow, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Diego G. Bassani

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Although most births in Mali occur in health facilities, a substantial number of newborns still die during delivery and within the first 7 days of life, mainly because of existing training deficiencies and the challenges of maintaining intrapartum and postpartum care skills.
Objective: This trial aims to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an intervention combining clinical audits and low-dose, high-frequency (LDHF) in-service training of health care providers and community health workers to reduce perinatal mortality.
Methods: The study is a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial in the Koulikoro region in Mali. The units of randomization are each of …


Micronutrient Supplements Can Promote Disruptive Protozoan And Fungal Communities In The Developing Infant Gut, Ana Popovic, Celine Bourdon, Pauline W. Wang, David S. Guttman, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Robert H J. Bandsma, John Parkinson, Lisa G. Pell Nov 2021

Micronutrient Supplements Can Promote Disruptive Protozoan And Fungal Communities In The Developing Infant Gut, Ana Popovic, Celine Bourdon, Pauline W. Wang, David S. Guttman, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Robert H J. Bandsma, John Parkinson, Lisa G. Pell

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Supplementation with micronutrients, including vitamins, iron and zinc, is a key strategy to alleviate child malnutrition. However, association of gastrointestinal disorders with iron has led to ongoing debate over their administration. To better understand their impact on gut microbiota, we analyse the bacterial, protozoal, fungal and helminth communities of stool samples collected from a subset of 80 children at 12 and 24 months of age, previously enrolled into a large cluster randomized controlled trial of micronutrient supplementation in Pakistan (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00705445). We show that while bacterial diversity is reduced in supplemented children, vitamins and iron (as well as …


The Family Planning "Know-Do" Gap Among Married Women Of Reproductive Age In Urban Pakistan, S Yameen, Sidrah Nausheen, I Hussain, K Hackett, Arjumand Rizvi, Uzair Ansari, Zohra S. Lassi, D Canning, I Shah, Sajid Bashir Soofi Sep 2021

The Family Planning "Know-Do" Gap Among Married Women Of Reproductive Age In Urban Pakistan, S Yameen, Sidrah Nausheen, I Hussain, K Hackett, Arjumand Rizvi, Uzair Ansari, Zohra S. Lassi, D Canning, I Shah, Sajid Bashir Soofi

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Objective: To examine the prevalence and predictors of family planning (FP) know-do gaps among married women of reproductive age (MWRA) in low socio-economic urban areas of Karachi, Pakistan.
Design: This was a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected 7288 MWRA (16-49 years) to identify predictors of the know-do gap in FP using a logistic regression model.
Results: More than one third (35.5%) of MWRA had FP know-do gap, i.e., despite having a knowledge of contraceptives and desire to limit or delay childbearing, they were not using contraceptives. Women were less likely to use FP if they were getting older (25-35 years: …


Causes And Circumstances Of Maternal Death: A Secondary Analysis Of The Community-Level Interventions For Pre-Eclampsia (Clip) Trials Cohort, Annet M. Aukes, Kristina Arion, Jeffrey N. Bone, Jing Li, Marianne Vidler, Mrutyunjaya B. Bellad, Zahra Hoodbhoy, Rahat Qureshi, Sana Sheikh, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Sep 2021

Causes And Circumstances Of Maternal Death: A Secondary Analysis Of The Community-Level Interventions For Pre-Eclampsia (Clip) Trials Cohort, Annet M. Aukes, Kristina Arion, Jeffrey N. Bone, Jing Li, Marianne Vidler, Mrutyunjaya B. Bellad, Zahra Hoodbhoy, Rahat Qureshi, Sana Sheikh, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Incomplete vital registration systems mean that causes of death during pregnancy and childbirth are poorly understood in low-income and middle-income countries. To inform global efforts to reduce maternal mortality, we compared physician review and computerised analysis of verbal autopsies (interpreting verbal autopsies [InterVA] software), to understand their agreement on maternal cause of death and circumstances of mortality categories (COMCATs) in the Community-Level Interventions for Pre-eclampsia (CLIP) cluster randomised trials.
Methods: The CLIP trials took place in India, Pakistan, and Mozambique, enrolling pregnant women aged 12-49 years between Nov 1, 2014, and Feb 28, 2017. 69 330 pregnant women were …


Dietary Diversity And Social Determinants Of Nutrition Among Late Adolescent Girls In Rural Pakistan, Jo-Anna B. Baxter, Yaqub Wasan, Muhammad Islam, Simon Cousens, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Imran Ahmed, Daniel W. Sellen, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Aug 2021

Dietary Diversity And Social Determinants Of Nutrition Among Late Adolescent Girls In Rural Pakistan, Jo-Anna B. Baxter, Yaqub Wasan, Muhammad Islam, Simon Cousens, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Imran Ahmed, Daniel W. Sellen, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

The conditions in which adolescent girls mature shape their health, development and nutrition. Nutrient requirements increase to support growth during adolescence, but gaps between consumption and requirements exist in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to identify and quantify the relationship between dietary intake and diverse social determinants of nutrition (SDN) among a subset of adolescent girls 15-18.9 years (n = 390) enrolled within the Matiari emPowerment and Preconception Supplementation (MaPPS) Trial. The primary outcome, dietary diversity score (DDS), was derived by applying the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women 10-item scale to 24-h dietary recall data collected three times per …


Balancing Science And Public Policy In Pakistan's Covid-19 Response, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Faisal Sultan, Aamer Ikram, Adil H. Haider, Assad Hafeez, Muhammad Islam Aug 2021

Balancing Science And Public Policy In Pakistan's Covid-19 Response, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Faisal Sultan, Aamer Ikram, Adil H. Haider, Assad Hafeez, Muhammad Islam

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the world in an unprecedented manner and South Asian countries were among the first to experience imported cases. Pakistan's response to COVID-19 has been under scrutiny for its granularity, reach and impact.
Aims: to evaluate objectively the chronology and depth of the response to COVID-19 in Pakistan.
Methods: We evaluated available national and subnational epidemiological and burden information on COVID-19 cases and deaths in Pakistan, including projection models available to the Government at an early stage of the pandemic.
Results: Pakistan, with a population of 215 million and considerable geographic diversity, experienced case …


Anemia Among Women Of Reproductive Age: An Overview Of Global Burden, Trends, Determinants, And Drivers Of Progress In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Aatekah Owais, Catherine Merritt, Christopher Lee, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Aug 2021

Anemia Among Women Of Reproductive Age: An Overview Of Global Burden, Trends, Determinants, And Drivers Of Progress In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Aatekah Owais, Catherine Merritt, Christopher Lee, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Relatively little progress has been made in reducing anemia prevalence among women of reproductive age (WRA anemia). Interventions, policies and programs aimed at reducing WRA anemia have the potential to improve overall not only women's, but also children's health and nutrition outcomes. To our knowledge, this is the first review that aimed to compile evidence on the determinants and drivers of WRA anemia reduction in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We synthesized the available evidence on the determinants and drivers, including government policies and programs, of WRA anemia and their mitigation strategies across a wide range of countries and geographies, …


Psychological Impact Of Covid-19 And Lock Down Measures: An Online Cross-Sectional Multicounty Study On Asian University Students, Karuthan Chinna, Sheela Sundarasen, Heba Bakr Khoshaim, Kamilah Kamaludin, Mohammad Nurunnabi, Gul Mohammad Baloch, Syed Far Abid Hossain, Areej Sukayt, Nevi Dalina, Zahid Memon Aug 2021

Psychological Impact Of Covid-19 And Lock Down Measures: An Online Cross-Sectional Multicounty Study On Asian University Students, Karuthan Chinna, Sheela Sundarasen, Heba Bakr Khoshaim, Kamilah Kamaludin, Mohammad Nurunnabi, Gul Mohammad Baloch, Syed Far Abid Hossain, Areej Sukayt, Nevi Dalina, Zahid Memon

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures have taken a toll on every level of the society, worldwide. This study examines their psychological impact on university students in Asia. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between April and May 2020 in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, India and Indonesia. The Zung's self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and questions on adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies were used in this study. A total of 3,679 students from the seven countries participated in this study. Overall, 21.9% and 13.7% of the students in this study experienced mild to moderate and severe to extreme …


Blood Pressure Thresholds In Pregnancy For Identifying Maternal And Infant Risk: A Secondary Analysis Of Community-Level Interventions For Pre-Eclampsia (Clip) Trial Data, Jeffrey N. Bone, Laura A. Magee, Joel Singer, Hannah Nathan, Rahat Qureshi, Charfudin Sacoor, Esperança Sevene, Andrew Shennan, Mrutyunjaya B. Bellad, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Aug 2021

Blood Pressure Thresholds In Pregnancy For Identifying Maternal And Infant Risk: A Secondary Analysis Of Community-Level Interventions For Pre-Eclampsia (Clip) Trial Data, Jeffrey N. Bone, Laura A. Magee, Joel Singer, Hannah Nathan, Rahat Qureshi, Charfudin Sacoor, Esperança Sevene, Andrew Shennan, Mrutyunjaya B. Bellad, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Blood pressure measurement is a marker of antenatal care quality. In well resourced settings, lower blood pressure cutoffs for hypertension are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. We aimed to study the associations between blood pressure thresholds and adverse outcomes and the diagnostic test properties of these blood pressure cutoffs in low-resource settings.
Methods: We did a secondary analysis of data from 22 intervention clusters in the Community-Level Interventions for Pre-eclampsia (CLIP) cluster randomised trials (NCT01911494) in India (n=6), Mozambique (n=6), and Pakistan (n=10). We included pregnant women aged 15-49 years (12-49 years in Mozambique), identified in their …


Predicting The Environmental Suitability For Onchocerciasis In Africa As An Aid To Elimination Planning, Elizabeth A. Cromwell, Joshua C P. Osborne, Thomas R. Unnasch, Maria-Gloria Basáñez, Katherine M. Gass, Kira A. Barbre, Elex Hill, Kimberly B. Johnson, Katie M. Donkers, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Jul 2021

Predicting The Environmental Suitability For Onchocerciasis In Africa As An Aid To Elimination Planning, Elizabeth A. Cromwell, Joshua C P. Osborne, Thomas R. Unnasch, Maria-Gloria Basáñez, Katherine M. Gass, Kira A. Barbre, Elex Hill, Kimberly B. Johnson, Katie M. Donkers, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Recent evidence suggests that, in some foci, elimination of onchocerciasis from Africa may be feasible with mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin. To achieve continental elimination of transmission, mapping surveys will need to be conducted across all implementation units (IUs) for which endemicity status is currently unknown. Using boosted regression tree models with optimised hyperparameter selection, we estimated environmental suitability for onchocerciasis at the 5 × 5-km resolution across Africa. In order to classify IUs that include locations that are environmentally suitable, we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to identify an optimal threshold for suitability concordant with locations where …


Contextual Challenges In The Implementation Of The Alliance For Maternal And Newborn Health Improvement, Prospective Cohort Study, An Experience From Rural Pakistan, Yaqub Wasan, Shabina Ariff, Amjad Hussain, Sheraz Ahmed, Mansoor A. Abro, Imran Ahmed, Atif Habib, Sajid Bashir Soofi Jul 2021

Contextual Challenges In The Implementation Of The Alliance For Maternal And Newborn Health Improvement, Prospective Cohort Study, An Experience From Rural Pakistan, Yaqub Wasan, Shabina Ariff, Amjad Hussain, Sheraz Ahmed, Mansoor A. Abro, Imran Ahmed, Atif Habib, Sajid Bashir Soofi

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Introduction: Improving maternal and newborn survival needs robust data on patterns of morbidity and mortality from well-characterized cohorts. It is equally important for researchers to document and understand the contextual challenges of data collection and how they are addressed.
Methods: This was a prospective cohort study implemented from December 2012 to August 2014 in Matiari, Pakistan. A total of 11,315 pregnancies were enrolled. Participants were approached at home for sequential data collection through the standard pretested structured questionnaires. Some indicators were sourced through health facility records. Information on field challenges gathered through field diaries and minutes of meetings with field …


Burden Of Transport-Related Injuries In The Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Systematic Analysis For The Global Burden Of Disease Study 2017, Gbd 2017 Emr Transport Injuries Collaborators, Saeid Safiri, Mark J M. Sullman, Timo Lajunen, Tetiana Hill, Amir Almasi-Hashiani, Maziar Moradi-Lakeh, Farshad Farzadfar, Sadaf G. Sepanlou, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Jul 2021

Burden Of Transport-Related Injuries In The Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Systematic Analysis For The Global Burden Of Disease Study 2017, Gbd 2017 Emr Transport Injuries Collaborators, Saeid Safiri, Mark J M. Sullman, Timo Lajunen, Tetiana Hill, Amir Almasi-Hashiani, Maziar Moradi-Lakeh, Farshad Farzadfar, Sadaf G. Sepanlou, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Transport-related injuries (TIs) are a substantial public health concern for all regions of the world. The present study quantified the burden of TIs and deaths in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) in 2017 by sex and age.
Methods: TIs and deaths were estimated by age, sex, country, and year using Cause of Death Ensemble modelling (CODEm) and DisMod-MR 2.1. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which quantify the total burden of years lost due to premature death or disability, were also estimated per 100000 population. All estimates were reported along with their corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs).
Results: In 2017, there …


Randomised Trials At The Level Of The Individual, Jay J H. Park, Nathan Ford, Denis Xavier, Per Ashorn, Rebecca F. Grais, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Herman Goossens, Kristian Thorlund, Maria Eugenia Socias, Edward J. Mills May 2021

Randomised Trials At The Level Of The Individual, Jay J H. Park, Nathan Ford, Denis Xavier, Per Ashorn, Rebecca F. Grais, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Herman Goossens, Kristian Thorlund, Maria Eugenia Socias, Edward J. Mills

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

In global health research, short-term, small-scale clinical trials with fixed, two-arm trial designs that generally do not allow for major changes throughout the trial are the most common study design. Building on the introductory paper of this Series, this paper discusses data-driven approaches to clinical trial research across several adaptive trial designs, as well as the master protocol framework that can help to harmonise clinical trial research efforts in global health research. We provide a general framework for more efficient trial research, and we discuss the importance of considering different study designs in the planning stage with statistical simulations. We …


The International Perinatal Outcomes In The Pandemic (Ipop) Study: Protocol, Sarah J. Stock, Helga Zoega, Meredith Brockway, Rachel H. Mulholland, Jessica E. Miller, Jasper V. Been, Rachael Wood, Ishaya I. Abok, Belal Alshaikh, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Feb 2021

The International Perinatal Outcomes In The Pandemic (Ipop) Study: Protocol, Sarah J. Stock, Helga Zoega, Meredith Brockway, Rachel H. Mulholland, Jessica E. Miller, Jasper V. Been, Rachael Wood, Ishaya I. Abok, Belal Alshaikh, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant death worldwide, but the causes of preterm birth are largely unknown. During the early COVID-19 lockdowns, dramatic reductions in preterm birth were reported; however, these trends may be offset by increases in stillbirth rates. It is important to study these trends globally as the pandemic continues, and to understand the underlying cause(s). Lockdowns have dramatically impacted maternal workload, access to healthcare, hygiene practices, and air pollution - all of which could impact perinatal outcomes and might affect pregnant women differently in different regions of the world. In the international Perinatal Outcomes in …


Delivering Maternal And Neonatal Health Interventions In Conflict Settings: A Systematic Review, Mariella Munyuzangabo, Michelle F. Gaffey, Dina S. Khalifa, Daina Als, Anushka Ataullahjan, Mahdis Kamali, Reena P. Jain, Sarah Meteke, Amruta Radhakrishnan, Shailja Shah, Fahad J. Siddiqui, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Feb 2021

Delivering Maternal And Neonatal Health Interventions In Conflict Settings: A Systematic Review, Mariella Munyuzangabo, Michelle F. Gaffey, Dina S. Khalifa, Daina Als, Anushka Ataullahjan, Mahdis Kamali, Reena P. Jain, Sarah Meteke, Amruta Radhakrishnan, Shailja Shah, Fahad J. Siddiqui, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: While much progress was made throughout the Millennium Development Goals era in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, both remain unacceptably high, especially in areas affected by humanitarian crises. While valuable guidance on interventions to improve maternal and neonatal health in both non-crisis and crisis settings exists, guidance on how best to deliver these interventions in crisis settings, and especially in conflict settings, is still limited. This systematic review aimed to synthesise the available literature on the delivery on maternal and neonatal health interventions in conflict settings.
Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO databases using terms related to …