Operational research in low-income countries: what, why, and how?

Lancet Infect Dis

Operational Research Unit, Medical Department, Brussels Operational Centre, Médecins Sans Frontières, Brussels, Belgium.

Published: November 2009

Operational research is increasingly being discussed at institutional meetings, donor forums, and scientific conferences, but limited published information exists on its role from a disease-control and programme perspective. We suggest a definition of operational research, clarify its relevance to infectious-disease control programmes, and describe some of the enabling factors and challenges for its integration into programme settings. Particularly in areas where the disease burden is high and resources and time are limited, investment in operational research and promotion of a culture of inquiry are needed so that health care can become more efficient. Thus, research capacity needs to be developed, specific resources allocated, and different stakeholders (academic institutions, national programme managers, and non-governmental organisations) brought together in promoting operational research.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(09)70229-4DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

operational
5
operational low-income
4
low-income countries
4
countries how?
4
how? operational
4
operational increasingly
4
increasingly discussed
4
discussed institutional
4
institutional meetings
4
meetings donor
4

Similar Publications

Background: Liver malignancies present substantial challenges to surgeons due to the extensive hepatic resections required, frequently resulting in posthepatectomy liver failure. Associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) was designed to increase the resectable liver volume, yet it is associated with significant mortality and morbidity rates. Recently, minimally invasive techniques have been incorporated into ALPPS, with the potential to improve the procedure's safety profile whilst maintaining efficacy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Gallstones have gradually become a highly prevalent digestive disease worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the association of nine different obesity-related indicators (BRI, RFM, BMI, WC, LAP, CMI, VAI, AIP, TyG) with gallstones and to compare their predictive properties for screening gallstones.

Methods: Data for this study were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the 2017-2020 cycle, and weighted logistic regression analyses with multi-model adjustment were conducted to explore the association of the nine indicators with gallstones.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The impact of aortic arch (AA) morphology on the management of the procedural details and the clinical outcomes of the transfemoral artery (TF)-transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has not been evaluated. The goal of this study was to evaluate the AA morphology of patients who had TF-TAVR using an artificial intelligence algorithm and then to evaluate its predictive value for clinical outcomes.

Materials And Methods: A total of 1480 consecutive patients undergoing TF-TAVR using a new-generation transcatheter heart valve at 12 institutes were included in this retrospective study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Detecting kidney trauma on CT scans can be challenging and is sometimes overlooked. While deep learning (DL) has shown promise in medical imaging, its application to kidney injuries remains underexplored. This study aims to develop and validate a DL algorithm for detecting kidney trauma, using institutional trauma data and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) dataset for external validation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Recent advances in multimodal large language models (MLLMs) have shown promise in medical image interpretation, yet their utility in surgical contexts remains unexplored. This study evaluates six MLLMs' performance in interpreting diverse imaging modalities for laryngeal cancer surgery.

Methods: We analyzed 169 images (X-rays, CT scans, laryngoscopy, and pathology findings) from 50 patients using six state-of-the-art MLLMs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!