SynthesisPhilosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences2023
Effectiveness of social distancing measures and lockdowns for reducing transmission of COVID-19 in non-healthcare, community-based settings.
Synthesis in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 4 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
34 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions as implemented in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid review.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 transmission: rapid review of evidence from Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of social distancing measures and lockdowns for reducing transmission of COVID-19 in non-healthcare, community-based settings.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Mitigation of COVID-19 through onsite testing and education among formerly incarcerated individuals (the MOSAIC study): an open-label, single-centre, randomised controlled trial.The Lancet. Public health · 2026Trial
- Exercise Perceptions, Barriers, and Self-Efficacy Among Adults in Kuwait During the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Paediatric infection hospital admissions in England before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Epidemiology and infection · 2026Article
- Crisis-driven innovation in the Republic of Korea's in vitro diagnostics industry: a pandemic case study.Osong public health and research perspectives · 2026Article
- Uncertainty and inconsistency of COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical intervention effects with multiple competitive statistical models.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Impact of COVID-19 Control Measures on Birth Outcomes in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2025Article
- A Comparative Study on COVID-19 Dynamics: Mathematical Modeling, Predictions, and Resource Allocation Strategies in Romania, Italy, and Switzerland.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Differences in Marine Toxin Poisonings Reported to US Poison Centers After Pandemic Restrictions.Toxins · 2025Article
- Estimating the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 transmission in the Netherlands.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Urban Air Quality Shifts in China: Application of Additive Model and Transfer Learning to Major Cities.Toxics · 2025Article
- Promoting Behavioral Change to Improve Health Outcomes.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Associations of Sex and Household Area With Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior During Total and Partial COVID-19 Lockdowns in Chile: A Study in Adults Aged 18-44 Years.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2025Article
- Commentary: Without Values, Complexity is Reduced to Mathematics.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Article
- Impact of tiered restrictions in December 2020 on COVID-19 hospitalisations in England: a synthetic control study.BMJ open · 2025Observational
- Changes in habits among mothers during the period of social isolation due to COVID-19 in the municipality of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.Revista brasileira de epidemiologia = Brazilian journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Social distancing measures (SDMs) are community-level interventions that aim to reduce person-to-person contacts in the community. SDMs were a major part of the responses first to contain, then to mitigate, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the community. Common SDMs included limiting the size of gatherings, closing schools and/or workplaces, implementing work-from-home arrangements, or more stringent restrictions such as lockdowns. This systematic review summarized the evidence for the effectiveness of nine SDMs. Almost all of the studies included were observational in nature, which meant that there were intrinsic risks of bias that could have been avoided were conditions randomly assigned to study participants. There were no instances where only one form of SDM had been in place in a particular setting during the study period, making it challenging to estimate the separate effect of each intervention. The more stringent SDMs such as stay-at-home orders, restrictions on mass gatherings and closures were estimated to be most effective at reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Most studies included in this review suggested that combinations of SDMs successfully slowed or even stopped SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the community. However, individual effects and optimal combinations of interventions, as well as the optimal timing for particular measures, require further investigation. This article is part of the theme issue 'The effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the COVID-19 pandemic: the evidence'.
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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.