Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34051769›Full record

SynthesisBMC public health2021

Effective public health measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19: a systematic review.

Imen Ayouni, Jihen Maatoug, Wafa Dhouib, Nawel Zammit, Sihem Ben Fredj, Rim Ghammam, Hassen Ghannem

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 220 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
220citing papers in PubMed, 16 pooled it
32.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

220 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 429 citations in OpenAlex.

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  18. Local Responses to Limits on U.S. Public Health Authority During the COVID-19 Emergency.The International journal of health planning and management · 2026
    Article
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160 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Imen AyouniDepartment of Epidemiology, University Hospital Farhat Hached Sousse, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia. eman.layouni@gmail.com.
Jihen MaatougDepartment of Epidemiology, University Hospital Farhat Hached Sousse, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
Wafa DhouibDepartment of Epidemiology, University Hospital Farhat Hached Sousse, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
Nawel ZammitDepartment of Epidemiology, University Hospital Farhat Hached Sousse, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
Sihem Ben FredjDepartment of Epidemiology, University Hospital Farhat Hached Sousse, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
Rim GhammamDepartment of Epidemiology, University Hospital Farhat Hached Sousse, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
Hassen GhannemDepartment of Epidemiology, University Hospital Farhat Hached Sousse, Faculty of Medicine of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
Hôpital Farhat Hached · TN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn December 2019, a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was recognized in Wuhan, China. It was characterised by rapid spread causing a pandemic. Multiple public health interventions have been implemented worldwide to decrease the transmission of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the implemented public health interventions to control the spread of the outbreak of COVID-19.

methodsWe systematically searched PubMed, Science Direct and MedRxiv for relevant articles published in English up to March 16, 2021. We included quasi experimental studies, clinical trials, cohort studies, longitudinal studies, case-control studies and interrupted time series. We included the studies that investigated the effect of the implemented public health measures to prevent and control the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

resultsThe database search using the predefined combinations of Mesh terms found 13,497 studies of which 3595 in PubMed, 7393 in Science Direct 2509 preprints in MedRxiv. After removal of the duplicates and the critical reading only 18 articles were included in this systematic review and processed for data extraction.

conclusionsPublic health interventions and non-pharmaceutical measurements were effective in decreasing the transmission of COVID-19. The included studies showed that travel restrictions, borders measures, quarantine of travellers arriving from affected countries, city lockdown, restrictions of mass gathering, isolation and quarantine of confirmed cases and close contacts, social distancing measures, compulsory mask wearing, contact tracing and testing, school closures and personal protective equipment use among health workers were effective in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

Indexed as

COVID-19Public HealthChinaCommunicable Disease ControlHumansSARS-CoV-2COVID-19Non-pharmaceutical measuresPreventionPublic heath interventionsSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID34051769
PMCPMC8164261
OpenAlexW3165872846

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.