SynthesisThe Journal of hospital infection2015
Effectiveness of contact precautions against multidrug-resistant organism transmission in acute care: a systematic review of the literature.
Synthesis in The Journal of hospital infection, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevention in adults of transmission of infection with multidrug-resistant organisms: an updated systematic review from Making Healthcare Safer IV.BMJ quality & safety · 2025Pooled it
- 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
- Impact of isolation on hospitalised patients who are infectious: systematic review with meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Infection prevention and control strategies for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in healthcare: a narrative review.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2026Review
- Assessment of the role of handwash basins in the airborne transmission of multi-drug-resistant organisms in clinical and non-clinical settings.The Journal of hospital infection · 2026Article
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- Article
- Precaution or barrier? Reconsidering contact and isolation measures in palliative care: a systematic scoping review.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2025Article
- Contact precautions in a palliative care unit: a retrospective chart review at a canadian tertiary hospital.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2025Article
- Infant isolation and cohorting for preventing or reducing transmission of healthcare-associated infections in neonatal units.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- The Hidden Cost of COVID-19: Focus on Antimicrobial Resistance in Bloodstream Infections.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- Impact of Multidisciplinary Collaborative Intervention on Isolation Implementation in Prevention and Control of Multi-drug Resistance Infection.Current medical science · 2023Article
- Re-visiting contact precautions - 25 years on.Journal of infection prevention · 2021Article
- Justice in control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus transmission: a fair question to ask?Monash bioethics review · 2020Article
- Infection control measures in times of antimicrobial resistance: a matter of solidarity.Monash bioethics review · 2020Article
- Multidrug-resistant bacteria in a paediatric palliative care inpatient unit: results of a one year surveillance.GMS hygiene and infection control · 2020Article
- Barrier Precautions in the Era of Multidrug Pathogens.Current treatment options in infectious diseases · 2020Review
- Multidrug-Resistant Microorganisms Colonizing Lower Extremity Wounds in Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Lima, Peru.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2017Article
- Checking rounds for isolation precautions in the control of multidrug-resistant organisms: reduction achieved.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2017Article
- Colonization pressure as a risk factor of ICU-acquired multidrug resistant bacteria: a prospective observational study.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2017Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Contact precautions are widely recommended to prevent multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) transmission. However, conflicting data exist regarding their effectiveness. Prior systematic reviews examined contact precautions as part of a larger bundled approach, limiting ability to understand their effectiveness. The aim of this review was to characterize the effectiveness of contact precautions alone against transmission of any MDRO among adult acute care patients. Directed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement, comprehensive searches of four electronic scientific literature databases were conducted for studies published in English from January 2004 to June 2014. Studies were included if interventional, original research, evaluating contact isolation precautions against MDRO transmission among inpatients. Searches returned 284 studies, six of which were included in the review. These studies measured four different MDROs with one study showing a reduction in transmission. Whereas studies were of high quality regarding outcome operationalization and statistical analyses, overall quality was moderate to low due to poor intervention description, population characterization and potential biases. Where compliance was measured (N = 4), it presented a threat to validity because it included select parts of the intervention, ranged from 21% to 87%, and was significantly different across study phases (N = 2). The poor quality of evidence on this topic continues to limit interpretation of these data. Hence, this conflicting body of literature does not constitute evidence for or against contact precautions. We recommend that researchers consider power calculation, compliance monitoring, non-equivalent concurrent controls when designing future studies on this topic.
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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.