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Am J Med
. 2022 Apr 23;S0002-9343(22)00338-2.
doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2022.04.005. Online ahead of print.
The effect of hospital visitor policies on patients, their visitors, and healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review
Audra N Iness 1 , Jefferson O Abaricia 2 , Wendemi Sawadogo 3 , Caleb M Iness 4 , Max Duesberg 5 , John Cyrus 6 , Vinay Prasad 7
Affiliations
- PMID: 35472383
- DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2022.04.005
Abstract
Healthcare policymaking during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has questioned the precedent of restricting hospital visitors. We aimed to synthesize available data describing the resulting impact on patient, family/visitor, and healthcare provider wellbeing. We systematically reviewed articles from the World Health Organization COVID-19 Global Literature on Coronavirus Disease Database published between December 2019 through April 2021. Included studies focused on hospitalized patients and reported one or more pre-specified main or secondary outcome (COVID-19 disease transmission, global wellbeing, mortality, morbidity, or healthcare resource utilization). Two authors independently extracted data into a standardized form with a third author resolving discrepancies. 1153 abstracts were screened, and 26 final full-text articles were included. Ten studies were qualitative, with seven cohort studies, and no randomized controlled trials. Critically ill patients were the most represented (12/26 studies). Blanket hospital visitor policies were associated with failure to address the unique needs of patients, their visitors, and healthcare providers in various clinical environments. Overall, a patient-centered, thoughtful, and nuanced approach to hospital visitor policies is likely to benefit all stakeholders while minimizing potential harms.
Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; healthcare; policy; virus; visitor.