Consensus statement on measures to promote equitable authorship in the publication of research from international partnerships.

Despite the acknowledged injustice and widespread existence of parachute research studies conducted in low- or middle-income countries by researchers from institutions in high-income countries, there is currently no pragmatic guidance for how academic journals should evaluate manuscript submissions and challenge this practice. We assembled a multidisciplinary group of editors and researchers with expertise in international health research to develop this consensus statement. We reviewed relevant existing literature and held three workshops to present research data and holistically discuss the concept of equitable authorship and the role of academic journals in the context of international health research partnerships. We subsequently developed statements to guide prospective authors and journal editors as to how they should address this issue. We recommend that for manuscripts that report research conducted in low- or middle-income countries by collaborations including partners from one or more high-income countries, authors should submit accompanying structured reflexivity statements. We provide specific questions that these statements should address and suggest that journals should transparently publish reflexivity statements with accepted manuscripts. We also provide guidance to journal editors about how they should assess the structured statements when making decisions on whether to accept or reject submitted manuscripts. We urge journals across disciplines to adopt these recommendations to accelerate the changes needed to halt the practice of parachute research.

A multicentre prospective observational study of the prevalence of preoperative anaemia and iron deficiency in adult elective surgical patients in hospitals in Western Cape Province, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative anaemia has been shown to be an independent risk factor for postoperative morbidity and mortality. Iron deficiency is the leading cause of anaemia globally. There are limited data describing the burden of perioperative anaemia and the relative contribution of iron deficiency in South Africa (SA). OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and severity of preoperative anaemia in adults presenting for elective surgery in Western Cape Province, SA, and to investigate the contribution of iron deficiency as a cause of the anaemia. For this purpose, an investigative protocol from a recent consensus statement on the management of perioperative anaemia was applied. METHODS: We performed a prospective, observational study in adult patients presenting for elective non-cardiac, non-obstetric surgery over a 5-day period at six Western Cape government-funded hospitals. The World Health Organization patient classification was applied, and patients with anaemia were investigated for iron deficiency. RESULTS: The prevalence of preoperative anaemia was 28% (105/375; 95% confidence interval (CI) 23.5 - 32.5); 55/105 patients (52%) had moderate and 11/105 (11%) severe anaemia. Iron deficiency was the cause of anaemia in 37% (32/87; 95% CI 26.6 - 46.9), but only 9% of iron-deficient patients received iron supplementation prior to surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative anaemia was common in this study, and more than half of the affected patients had moderate to severe anaemia. Iron deficiency was responsible for almost 40% of cases. Iron supplementation was under-utilised in the preoperative period as a means of increasing haemoglobin. The introduction of system-wide policies would empower perioperative physicians to mitigate the risk associated with preoperative anaemia in the Western Cape.

The efficacy of peri-operative interventions to decrease postoperative delirium in non-cardiac surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the efficacy of peri-operative interventions in decreasing the incidence of postoperative delirium. An electronic search of four databases was conducted. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were adhered to. We included randomised controlled trials of non-cardiac surgery with a peri-operative intervention and that reported postoperative delirium, and identified 29 trials. Meta-analysis revealed that peri-operative geriatric consultation (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.32-0.67) and lighter anaesthesia (OR 2.66, 95% CI 1.27-5.56) were associated with a decreased incidence of postoperative delirium. For the other interventions, the point estimate suggested possible protection with prophylactic haloperidol (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.36-1.05), bright light therapy (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.03-1.19) and general as opposed to regional anaesthesia (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.47-1.23). This meta-analysis has shown that peri-operative geriatric consultations with multicomponent interventions and lighter anaesthesia are potentially effective in decreasing the incidence of postoperative delirium.