Protocol for a systematic review of the effects of interventions for vaccine stock management
Date
2019-01-08
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC (part of Springer Nature)
Abstract
Background: Inadequate vaccine stock management in health facilities leads to vaccine stock-outs. The latter
threatens the success of immunisation programmes. Countries have used various approaches to reduce stock-outs and
improve vaccine availability, but we are not aware of a systematic review of these interventions. This protocol describes
the methods we will use to assess the effects of existing approaches for improving vaccine stock management.
Methods: We include randomised and non-randomised studies identified through a compehensive search of
peer-reviewed and grey literature databases. We will search PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled
Trials, Embase, Web of Science, PDQ-Evidence and Scopus. We will also search websites of the World Health
Organisation (WHO), Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation, PATH Vaccine Resources Library and United
Nations Children’s Fund. In addition, we will search the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and
reference lists of included studies and relevant reviews. Finally, we plan to do a citation search for included studies.
We will use Cochrane recommended methods to screen search outputs, assess study eligibility and risk of bias,
extract and analyse study results. We will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and
Evaluation (GRADE) tool to assess the certainty of the evidence on the effects of the interventions.
Discussion: We believe that the findings of this review will serve as valuable information for policy makers on
ways to improve vaccine stock management and vaccine availability. When vaccine availability is improved, those
who need them, especially children, will be adequately protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Description
CITATION: Iwu, C. J., et al. 2017. Protocol for a systematic review of the effects of interventions for vaccine stock management. Systematic Reviews, 8:14, doi:10.1186/s13643-018-0922-3.
The original publication is available at https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com
The original publication is available at https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com
Keywords
Vaccines -- Inventory control, Immunization, Systematic reviews (Medical research)
Citation
Iwu, C. J., et al. 2017. Protocol for a systematic review of the effects of interventions for vaccine stock management. Systematic Reviews, 8:14, doi:10.1186/s13643-018-0922-3