ReviewInfection prevention in practice2026
Decontamination of environmental surfaces in hospitals to reduce hospital-acquired infections: a systematic review.
Review in Infection prevention in practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Characterising the Hospital Microbiota: A Descriptive Study of Environmental Monitoring.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The impact of hospital surface decontamination on hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) remains uncertain. We assessed the effects of hospital surface decontamination, through cleaning, disinfection, or both, on patient-centred outcomes. Methods: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs was conducted following Cochrane/GRADE methods. Meta-analysis was not feasible because of few studies. Results: We included 11 RCTs conducted between 2007 and 2017 in high-income countries. Seven had financial conflicts. At most one RCT provided data per review outcome. Certainty of evidence was very low across all comparisons: quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) versus detergent on HAIs (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.69-1.31); probiotic versus detergent on HAIs (IRR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.69-1.32); phenolic versus detergent on HAIs (relative risk [RR]: 1.13, 95% CI: 0.57-2.24); QAC versus probiotic on HAIs (IRR: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.72-1.39); increased high-touch surface disinfection frequency on methicillin-resistant Conclusion: Evidence from RCTs on hospital surface decontamination and patient outcomes remains uncertain. These inconclusive findings on cleaning or disinfection do not indicate evidence of no effect but highlight the need for new RCTs.
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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.