SynthesisBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2004
Isolation measures in the hospital management of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): systematic review of the literature.
Synthesis in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
86 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 346 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patient care experience with utilization of isolation precautions: systematic literature review and meta-analysis.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic review of the effectiveness of cohorting to reduce transmission of healthcare-associatedInfection control and hospital epidemiology · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic review of transmission dynamic studies of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in non-hospital residential facilities.BMC infectious diseases · 2018Pooled it
- Effectiveness of contact precautions against multidrug-resistant organism transmission in acute care: a systematic review of the literature.The Journal of hospital infection · 2015Pooled it
- Patient isolation measures for infants with candida colonization or infection for preventing or reducing transmission of candida in neonatal units.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2011Pooled it
- Systematic review of antimicrobial drug prescribing in hospitals.Emerging infectious diseases · 2006Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce colonisation and transmission of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in intensive care units: an interrupted time series study and cluster randomised trial.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2014Trial
- Impact of contact isolation for multidrug-resistant organisms on the occurrence of medical errors and adverse events.Intensive care medicine · 2013Trial
- Intervention to reduce transmission of resistant bacteria in intensive care.The New England journal of medicine · 2011Trial
- Machine Learning Models to Establish the Risk of Being a Carrier of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria upon Admission to the ICU.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Re-evaluating patient isolation policies for musculoskeletal infections in orthopaedic practice: a scoping review.Journal of bone and joint infection · 2025Review
- Risk assessment and prediction of nosocomial infections based on surveillance data using machine learning methods.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Infant isolation and cohorting for preventing or reducing transmission of healthcare-associated infections in neonatal units.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- Impact of Multidisciplinary Collaborative Intervention on Isolation Implementation in Prevention and Control of Multi-drug Resistance Infection.Current medical science · 2023Article
- Reorganization of nurse scheduling reduces the risk of healthcare associated infections.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Comparison of PCR and phenotypic methods for the detection of methicillin resistantIranian journal of microbiology · 2021Article
- Methicillin-ResistantInfection and drug resistance · 2021Article
- Determining the ideal prevention strategy for multidrug-resistance organisms in resource-limited countries: a cost-effectiveness analysis study.Epidemiology and infection · 2020Article
- Molecular detection and typing of methicillin-resistantVeterinary world · 2019Article
- Perspectives on multidrug-resistant organisms at the end of life : A focus group study of staff members and institutional stakeholders.Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie · 2019Article
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on byGolden rules.2004
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of isolation measures in reducing the incidence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation and infection in hospital inpatients.
designSystematic review of published articles. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE), and citation lists (1966-2000). REVIEW
methodsArticles reporting MRSA related outcomes and describing an isolation policy were selected. No quality restrictions were imposed on studies using isolation wards or nurse cohorting. Other studies were included if they were prospective or employed planned comparisons of retrospective data.
results46 studies were accepted; 18 used isolation wards, nine used nurse cohorting, and 19 used other isolation policies. Most were interrupted time series, with few planned formal prospective studies. All but one reported multiple interventions. Consideration of potential confounders, measures to prevent bias, and appropriate statistical analysis were mostly lacking. No conclusions could be drawn in a third of studies. Most others provided evidence consistent with a reduction of MRSA acquisition. Six long interrupted time series provided the strongest evidence. Four of these provided evidence that intensive control measures including patient isolation were effective in controlling MRSA. In two others, isolation wards failed to prevent endemic MRSA.
conclusionMajor methodological weaknesses and inadequate reporting in published research mean that many plausible alternative explanations for reductions in MRSA acquisition associated with interventions cannot be excluded. No well designed studies exist that allow the role of isolation measures alone to be assessed. None the less, there is evidence that concerted efforts that include isolation can reduce MRSA even in endemic settings. Current isolation measures recommended in national guidelines should continue to be applied until further research establishes otherwise.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.