SynthesisBritish journal of health psychology2022
Interventions to increase personal protective behaviours to limit the spread of respiratory viruses: A rapid evidence review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in British journal of health psychology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Key factors for promoting protective behaviours in future pandemics: an umbrella review.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Pooled it
- Adherence to mask-wearing and its impact on the incidence and deaths of viral respiratory infectious diseases: a systematic review, meta-analysis and modelling study.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Communication to promote and support physical distancing for COVID-19 prevention and control: a rapid reviewThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Promoting Hand Hygiene During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Randomized Controlled Trial of the Optimized Soapp+ App.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- Promoting Hand Hygiene During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Parallel Randomized Trial for the Optimization of the Soapp App.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Trial
- Thinking of future as an older individual increases perceived risks for age-related diseases but not for COVID-19.International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie · 2022Trial
- Adherence to mask wearing and social distancing and use of lateral flow tests during the COVID19 pandemic in England and Wales based on the virus watch community cohort study.Discover public health · 2026Article
- Motivational effectiveness of prosocial public health messaging to reduce respiratory infection risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Understanding the dynamics and interplay of public support and adherence to five key mitigation behaviors over the course of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Hand Hygiene, Mask Use, and Social Distancing among Public Hospital and Polyclinic Nurses in Barbados during the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Descriptive, injunctive, or the synergy of both? Experimenting normative information on behavioral changes under the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Children wearing face masks to prevent communicable diseases: scoping review.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2022Article
- Nurses' Perceptions of the Quality of Perinatal Care Provided to Lesbian Women.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
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
Abstract
purposeIncreasing personal protective behaviours is critical for stopping the spread of respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2: We need evidence to inform how to achieve this. We aimed to synthesize evidence on interventions to increase six personal protective behaviours (e.g., hand hygiene, face mask use, maintaining physical distancing) to limit the spread of respiratory viruses.
methodsWe used best practice for rapid evidence reviews. We searched Ovid MEDLINE and Scopus. Studies conducted in adults or children with active or passive comparators were included. We extracted data on study design, intervention content, mode of delivery, population, setting, mechanism(s) of action, acceptability, practicability, effectiveness, affordability, spill-over effects, and equity impact. Study quality was assessed with Cochrane's risk-of-bias tool. A narrative synthesis and random-effects meta-analyses were conducted.
resultsWe identified 39 studies conducted across 15 countries. Interventions targeted hand hygiene (n = 30) and/or face mask use (n = 12) and used two- or three-arm study designs with passive comparators. Interventions were typically delivered face-to-face and included a median of three behaviour change techniques. The quality of included studies was low. Interventions to increase hand hygiene (k = 6) had a medium, positive effect (d = .62, 95% CI = 0.43-0.80, p < .001, I
conclusionsWe found low-quality evidence for positive effects of interventions targeting hand hygiene, with unclear results for interventions targeting face mask use. There was a lack of evidence for most behaviours of interest within this review.
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.