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. 2022 Apr 15:10:861594.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.861594. eCollection 2022.

A Rapid Literature Review of Multi-Criteria Decision Support Methods in the Context of One Health for All-Hazards Threat Prioritization

Jiawei Zhao  1 , Tiffany Smith  1 , Melissa Lavigne  1 , Cécile Aenishaenslin  2   3 , Ruth Cox  4   5 , Aamir Fazil  6 , Ana Johnson  7 , Javier Sanchez  4 , Benoit Hermant  1
Affiliations

A Rapid Literature Review of Multi-Criteria Decision Support Methods in the Context of One Health for All-Hazards Threat Prioritization

Jiawei Zhao et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is a decision support tool that can be used in public health emergency management. The use of a One Health lens in MCDA can support the prioritization of threats and interventions which cut across the human, animal, and environmental domains. Previous literature reviews have focused on creating a snapshot of MCDA methodological trends. Our study provides an update to the MCDA methods literature with key considerations from a One Health perspective and addresses the application of MCDA in an all-hazards decision-making context.

Methods: We conducted a literature search on MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, the CAB database, and a limited online gray literature search in partnership with a librarian from Health Canada. Articles were limited to those published in the year 2010 or later in a high-income setting (OECD member countries).

Results: Sixty-two articles were included for synthesis. Of these articles, most were Canadian studies (20%); and prioritized health risks, threats, and interventions in the human domain (69%). Six commonly used prioritization criteria were identified: threat, health, intervention, strategic, social, and economic impact. Stakeholders were engaged in 85% of studies and commonly consisted of government groups, non-governmental groups, subject matter experts, and the public. While most articles (65%) included elements of One Health based on our definition, only 5 studies (9%) explicitly acknowledged One Health as a guiding principle for the study. Forty seven percentage of studies noted that MCDA was beneficial in supporting the decision-making process.

Conclusion: Current literature on health prioritization presents some variability in the depth of integration of the One Health framework and on the use of various MCDA methodologies given prioritization objectives. Studies which applied a comprehensive One Health approach, prioritized disparate threats, or conducted cyclical prioritizations for governing bodies were broad in scope, but sparse. The results of our review indicate the need for better guidance on the integration of a One Health approach and the use of various MCDA methods given the main prioritization objectives.

Keywords: MCDA; One Health; all-hazards; decision support; multi-criteria decision analysis; prioritization; public health; rapid review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Identification and screening of articles following the PRISMA flow diagram.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overview of study contexts by domain, decisions informed, prioritization type, and topic area.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Examples of criteria and criteria groupings within each criteria category.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Number of studies at each level of the One Health definition.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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