Methods |
Trial design: Controlled before‐and‐after trial Type of cluster: Town and rural areas Cluster size: Population of towns: 1700; 1130; 830; 32,200; 31,550 individuals Number of clusters in each arm: Intervention arm: two; control arm: three Adjusted for clustering? No |
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Participants |
Age: School children Sex: Any Co‐morbidities and pregnancy: Any Primary outcome sample size (Parasite prevalence): 210, 112, 97, 853, 650 participants per survey Secondary outcome sample size (Splenomegaly prevalence): 210, 112, 97, 853, 650 participants per survey |
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Interventions |
Intervention: Habitat modification with larviciding Details of the intervention: Habitat modification: Drainage and reclamation of marshland, straightening of rivers and construction of embankments Larviciding: Larval habitats were treated with Paris Green (dosage not stated) Frequency of application: Not stated Duration of intervention period: 60 months Who was responsible for LSM? The government Co‐interventions: Case management: treatment with quinine (coverage not stated) Co‐interventions equal in each arm? Not stated |
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Outcomes |
1. Parasite prevalence (measured with yearly cross‐sectional surveys) 2. Splenomegaly prevalence (measured with yearly cross‐sectional surveys) |
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Notes |
Continent: Europe Country: Greece Ecosystem: Coastal Urban or rural: Urban and rural Extensive or localized larval habitats: Localized Primary larval habitats: Primarily man‐made habitats Transmission intensity: Low to moderate Transmission season(s): May to October Primary and secondary vector:An. elutus, An. superpictus Primary malaria parasite:P. falciparum, P. vivax Source of funding: Not stated |
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Risk of bias | ||
Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
Random sequence generation (selection bias) | High risk | Not randomly chosen. |
Allocation concealment (selection bias) | High risk | Not randomly chosen. |
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes | High risk | Impossible to blind evaluators to intervention. |
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes | High risk | Impossible to blind implementers to intervention. |
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | Unclear risk | Reporting ceased from one clinic. Individual patients not followed up therefore not possible to measure percentage loss to follow‐up. |
Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Low risk | Outcome reporting complete. |
Baseline characteristics | Low risk | Baseline characteristics reported. |
Contamination | Unclear risk | Not stated how far apart the towns were. |
Incorrect analysis | Unclear risk | Cluster adjustment not applicable. |
Other bias | High risk | High risk of confounding. |