Table. 1 A summary of inclusion and exclusion criteria used in order to ascertain study eligibility for the present systematic review

Time period

Search engine inception (1940) through to September 2020

–

Language

English

Any language other than English

Region

Africa

Any region other than Africa

Trial design

Randomised control trials; non-randomised control trials; controlled before-and-after studies; cluster-randomised trials with distance of more than 2 km between different treatment clusters [28]; observation studies; cohort studies; cross-sectional studies; small-scale trials; interrupted time series studies; studies without a separate control group—provided that the comparator data were sourced from before intervention implementation took place

Laboratory-based studies; opinion pieces; modelling studies; conference abstracts; experimental hut trials; cluster-randomised trials with less than 2 km distance between different treatment clusters [55,56,57,58]

Intervention type

Insecticide-based intervention

Any intervention not utilising insecticide

Mosquito type

At least one Anopheles mosquito species, in addition to other Culicidae genera

Any mosquito genera combination that does not include Anopheles; any non-mosquito species

Mosquito number

Data from minimum two types of mosquito species required, one of those being of the Anopheles genus (see above—‘Mosquito type’)

Studies where only data from one mosquito species are recorded

Primary outcome data

Density measurements including entomological inoculation rate (EIR); human biting rate (HBR); other adult or larval density metrics such as pyrethrum spray catches (PSCs); human landing catches (HLCs); number of mosquitoes per person through human house or catch measured directly through human bait or indirectly through light traps or knockdown catches or baited huts, per stated unit of time, with a maximum time interval measurement of 30 days; rate ratio based on density data; other proportional data which are calculated using density data

Species composition data without corresponding density data; any other mosquito-based data measurement not sourced from mosquito density data; any study without any density data for the minimum of two mosquito species, one of them being of the Anopheles genus; any studies with time interval measurements over 30 days, to avoid density changes that could be associated solely with seasonal changes in rainfall or other environmental conditions

Secondary outcome data

Proportional data for species identified in primary outcome data; epidemiological supporting data—malaria incidence and infection prevalence in any age group, diagnostically confirmed by microscopy, PCR or any other diagnostic test; sporozoite rates in mosquitoes; any confounding factors—measures that may have contributed to fluctuations in mosquito density e.g. land use change

Any other outcome data

Data comparator types

Data from non-intervention arm within a similar or the same locality as intervention arm; data from an experimental hut set-up with a non-intervention arm as a comparator/control; data from before intervention roll-out from within the same locality that intervention roll-out took place; data from intervention arms, when being compared to non-intervention arms, have a high bednet uptake (> 50%); data to have at least four samples/replicates or measurements per treatment, for all data compared; if not averaged over a year, data comparisons to be sourced from same seasons. If averaged yearly, maximum 30-day intervals acceptable for data from which average is taken

Data with non-intervention and intervention arms not sourced from same/similar locality as intervention arm; data sourced post-intervention roll-out are not sourced from the same or a similar locality from which pre-intervention data were sourced; data with experimental hut set-up without a non-experimental comparator/control; data from intervention arms, when being compared to non-intervention arms, have a low bednet uptake (< 50%); data with less than four samples/replicates per treatment arm for all data compared; any data comparisons from clearly different seasons (as stipulated in study); any yearly averages that were not sources from data taken every 30 days or less