Skip to main content
. 2015 Oct 27;10(10):e0140899. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140899

Table 2. Characteristics of included studies.

Number of studies (%)
PW type
Sachet 49 (24%)
Sachet (hand-filled) 8 (4%)
Small bottles (0.5-<5L) 120 (60%)
Large bottles (5-20L) 15 (7%)
Dispensing 9 (4%)
Unspecified 2 (1%)
Point of sampling
Manufacturers 16 (9%)
Point of sale 104 (60%)
Both Manufactures and POS 10 (6%)
Households/offices 7 (4%)
Study design a
Cross-sectional 146 (85%)
Longitudinal 22 (13%)
Method (diagnostic) 3 (2%)
Randomized 58 (34%)
Representative 30 (17%)
Study quality
Low (0–2) 69 (41%)
Medium (3–4) 77 (45%)
High (5–8) 24 (14%)
Language
English 141 (82%)
French 1 (1%)
Portuguese 23 (13%)
Spanish 6 (3%)
Turkish 1 (1%)
Parameter
E. coli 81 (47%)
Thermotolerant coliforms 84 (49%)
Total coliforms 155 (90%)
Sample size
Small (10–30) 53 (31%)
Medium (31–100) 75 (44%)
Large (101–1941) 44 (25%)
Setting a
National 14 (8%)
Urban 120 (70%)
Peri-Urban 3 (2%)
Rural 2 (1%)
Urban and Rural 3 (2%)
Urban and Peri-Urban 1 (<1%)
Unspecified/Regional 29 (17%)
Income Level a
High income (HI) 36 (21%)
Upper-middle income (UM) 57 (33%)
Lower-middle income (LM) 69 (40%)
Lower income (LI) 10 (6%)
Total a 172

aTwo articles reported two separate studies within the article, therefore the total is 172.