In the case of multiple country studies led by HI authors, it is relevant to ask whether their country is included or not in the study.
Given also the expertise in health systems within international agencies such as WHO, the fact that only 3%to5%5% (for single and multiple country studies, respectively) of all publications are led by such agencies suggests a missed opportunity to disseminate in scientific journals and to make the most of available data.
Subgroup analysis based on the use of alogliptin as monotherapy or add-on therapy (alogliptin alone vs alogliptin with other antidiabetic drug), patients' antidiabetic drug exposure history (antidiabetic drug experienced vs antidiabetic naïve) and the sites of the studies (studies in a single country at multiple sites vs multiple country studies) were planned and conducted.
A multiple country study found that 25% of stunting in children aged 24 months could be attributable to five or more diarrhoeal episodes experienced in the first 2 years of life.
Additional file 6 shows the number of single- and multiple-country studies by country.
Additional file 6: Number of single- and multiple-country studies per country.
Forty-five countries were addressed individually (either in single- or multiple-country publications), ten of which – Argentina, Barbados, Belgium, Chile, France, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe - were only analysed as part of multiple-country studies.
These studies were conducted in a dozen countries in SSA, including South Africa (5 studies), Nigeria (5 studies), Senegal (4 studies), Mali (3 studies), Ethiopia (2 studies), multiple countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (2 studies), and Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Congo, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Sudan, and Kenya (one study each; Table 1).
The 37 papers were from 22 countries, and one study was from multiple countries (this study is presented in both tables 3 and 4).
Using an experimental design, multiple products and multiple countries are studied.
Two key questions are addressed: to what extent is the literature on health systems focusing on multiple country experiences as against reporting on single country studies?
