ReviewPublic health2020
How to improve adherence with quarantine: rapid review of the evidence.
Review in Public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 174 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
174 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of COVID-19 on general vaccine acceptance in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Communication to promote and support physical distancing for COVID-19 prevention and control: a rapid reviewThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Improving the adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures in the community: Evidence brief for policy.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- COVID-19 pandemic: health impact of staying at home, social distancing and 'lockdown' measures-a systematic review of systematic reviews.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2021Pooled it
- What have we learned about COVID-19 volunteering in the UK? A rapid review of the literature.BMC public health · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Factors Associated with the Implementation of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions for Reducing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Social consequences of mass quarantine during epidemics: a systematic review with implications for the COVID-19 response.Journal of travel medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Automated and partly automated contact tracing: a systematic review to inform the control of COVID-19.The Lancet. Digital health · 2020Pooled it
- Facilitators and barriers to engagement with contact tracing during infectious disease outbreaks: A rapid review of the evidence.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Article
- Difficulties in adherence to social distancing and quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from a longitudinal study comparing migrants and non-migrants in a city in Norway.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Assessing the relationships between capability, opportunity, and motivation in influencing self-isolation behaviour during pandemics.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- An embodied perspective on adherence to preventive health measures: examples from the COVID-19 pandemic.Philosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM · 2025Article
- Epidemic-induced local awareness behavior inferred from surveys and genetic sequence data.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Optimizing the Use of SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Tests for the Timely Detection of and Response to COVID-19 in Schools and Markets in Uganda.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
114 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe December 2019 outbreak of coronavirus has once again thrown the vexed issue of quarantine into the spotlight, with many countries asking their citizens to 'self-isolate' if they have potentially come into contact with the infection. However, adhering to quarantine is difficult. Decisions on how to apply quarantine should be based on the best available evidence to increase the likelihood of people adhering to protocols. We conducted a rapid review to identify factors associated with adherence to quarantine during infectious disease outbreaks. STUDY
designThe study design is a rapid evidence review.
methodsWe searched Medline, PsycINFO and Web of Science for published literature on the reasons for and factors associated with adherence to quarantine during an infectious disease outbreak.
resultsWe found 3163 articles and included 14 in the review. Adherence to quarantine ranged from as little as 0 up to 92.8%. The main factors which influenced or were associated with adherence decisions were the knowledge people had about the disease and quarantine procedure, social norms, perceived benefits of quarantine and perceived risk of the disease, as well as practical issues such as running out of supplies or the financial consequences of being out of work.
conclusionsPeople vary in their adherence to quarantine during infectious disease outbreaks. To improve this, public health officials should provide a timely, clear rationale for quarantine and information about protocols; emphasise social norms to encourage this altruistic behaviour; increase the perceived benefit that engaging in quarantine will have on public health; and ensure that sufficient supplies of food, medication and other essentials are provided.
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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.