📄 Category

public and global health

433 papers

Public and global health examines how we protect communities from disease, manage outbreaks, and improve well-being across the world. This vital field connects diverse research on everything from infectious disease control and vaccination strategies to the social factors that shape our collective health. Because these studies often impact policy and daily life, understanding them quickly is more important than ever.

At Gist.Science, we track every new preprint published in this category on medRxiv to ensure you never miss a breakthrough. We process each submission to provide both plain-language explanations for general readers and detailed technical summaries for experts, making complex findings accessible to everyone.

Below are the latest papers in public and global health, freshly summarized from the most recent medRxiv releases.

📄 public and global health

Zombie trials are often monocentric and cluster within fabricated evidence factories: a cohort study of 236 retracted randomized controlled trials with confirmed data fabrication

This cohort study of 236 retracted randomized controlled trials reveals that "zombie" trials with confirmed data fabrication are predominantly monocentric, concentrated in specific countries like Japan, and generated by a small number of repeat offenders operating in localized "factories" that cause long-delayed retraction cascades.

Jajieh, T., Chapelle, C., Lemarchand, C., Locher, C., Pencole, M. A., Ioannidis, J., Ollier, E., Naudet, F., Laporte, S.2026-07-24
📄 public and global health

Lessons learned from real-time nowcasting: The 2024 dengue outbreak in Puerto Rico

This paper demonstrates that applying Nowcasting by Bayesian Smoothing (NobBS) to the 2024 dengue outbreak in Puerto Rico effectively mitigated reporting delays to accurately track transmission dynamics, while highlighting that joint parameter estimation improves performance for sparse data and stable reporting patterns are crucial for reliable real-time public health nowcasting.

Tran, Q. M., Detmar, A. L., Liu, C. Y., Madewell, Z. J., Rodriguez, D. M., Aponte, J. T., Marzan-Rodriguez, M., Paz-Bail (…)2026-07-23
📄 public and global health

The Impact Mechanism of Screen Time on Depression Among Chinese College Students: A Chain Mediation Model of Sleep Quality and Emotion Regulation

This study of nearly 11,000 Chinese college students reveals that excessive screen time significantly increases depressive symptoms through a chain mediation mechanism where it first impairs sleep quality, which subsequently weakens emotion regulation abilities.

Liang, C., Zhang, D.-y., Li, K.-x., Li, B., Lou, H., Zhu, S., Yu, S.-h., Han, S.-s.2026-07-21
📄 public and global health

Projected burden of hypertension-associated cardiovascular disease in people living with HIV versus HIV-negative adults in Eswatini

This study projects that people living with HIV in Eswatini will face a persistently higher burden of hypertension-associated cardiovascular disease compared to HIV-negative adults through 2045, with the gap potentially widening due to metabolic risks linked to dolutegravir-based antiretroviral therapy, particularly among women.

Milali, M. P., Citron, D. T., Bhamidipati, K., Yamamoto, N., Osei-Ntansah, A., Platais, I., Ferrara, G., Ngcamphalala, C (…)2026-07-20
📄 public and global health

Small-area estimation of district-level fertility in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa 2000-2025

This study utilizes a spatiotemporal Bayesian hierarchical model to generate district-level fertility estimates across 36 sub-Saharan African countries from 2000 to 2025, revealing significant subnational heterogeneity that national trends fail to capture and highlighting the critical need for localized data to guide effective public health resource management.

Stevens, O., Imai-Eaton, J. W.2026-07-20
📄 public and global health

Developing a Global Framework for Digital Health in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Clinician Perspectives of the Use of Digital Technologies in the TBI Care Pathway

Through a qualitative study of neurosurgeons across twelve countries, this paper proposes a novel "6A" conceptual framework (Availability, Acceptability, Applicability, Capability, Feasibility, and Possibility) to guide the context-sensitive design and implementation of digital health technologies within the complex, fragmented global care pathway for traumatic brain injury.

Mantle, O., Smith, B. G., Whiffin, C., Hobbs, L., Penmetcha, V., Menon, A., Venturini, S., Bashford, T., Hutchinson, P. (…)2026-07-20
📄 public and global health

Community health workers and adolescent health and well-being across sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis of 35 studies across 12 sub-Saharan African countries finds that community health worker-led interventions show promise in increasing modern contraceptive use and reducing depression among adolescents, though the evidence is limited by low certainty and substantial heterogeneity.

Lin, Y., Adesina, O., Asuma, B. S., Chen-Charles, J., Chalasani, S., Cluver, L., Diop, R. A., Rudgard, W. E.2026-07-18
📄 public and global health

Qualitative analysis of the Life Skills training strategy at a public university in Colombia, 2024

This 2024 qualitative study of a public Colombian university's Life Skills training strategy reveals that its participatory, experiential approach effectively enhances students' mental health and psychosocial competencies, despite challenges related to initial resistance and diversity.

Ortiz Ruiz, N., LOPEZ PAZ, Y., Orobio Lerma, Y. P., Burgos Davila, D., Medina Zapata, H. J., Manzano Valencia, K. P., Al (…)2026-07-18
📄 public and global health

Community-Tailored One Health Educational Intervention to Enhance Knowledge and Practices for Zoonotic Disease Prevention in Rural Thailand: a Protocol for a Prospective Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial in Chanthaburi, Thailand (Saan Suk trial)

This protocol outlines a prospective cluster-randomised controlled trial in rural Thailand designed to evaluate the efficacy of a community-tailored, Village Health Volunteer-delivered One Health educational intervention in improving knowledge and practices related to zoonotic disease prevention among residents living in biodiverse settings.

Treskova, M., Rocha Pompeu, C., Puntumetakul, P., Chaiphonngam, S., Bärnighausen, K., Kachnova, U., Jutaviriya, K., Pho (…)2026-07-18
📄 public and global health

Operational insights for larval source management programs: An exploratory study of Anopheles breeding habitat dynamics across urban wards in Ibadan, Nigeria

This exploratory study in Ibadan, Nigeria, reveals that Anopheles larval habitats and their environmental drivers vary significantly across urban settlement archetypes, with slum-dominant areas exhibiting the highest breeding density, thereby underscoring the need for context-specific larval source management strategies tailored to local urban characteristics.

Bamgboye, E., Adeleke, M. A., Surakat, O., Mhlanga, L., Fasasi, K., Rufai, A. M., Popoola, K. O., Aminu, U. M., Ogbulafo (…)2026-07-18