Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Correspondence to Dr Danielle Vuichard-Gysin; danielle. Isolation precautions IP are applied to prevent transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings. Potential negative health outcomes experienced by patients have been previously described but results remain conflicting. We aimed at evaluating the psychological impact of IP in adult patients in isolation using a novel psychological assessment tool.
Hospitalised patients under IP and non-isolated patients were matched by ward, age and illness severity. PRISM is a visual psychometric instrument that has been validated as a quantitative measure of suffering. Smaller distance in self-to-illness separation SIS signifies higher importance for a patient. Median IQR duration of isolation was 5 days 2β Similarly, median SIS IQR was significantly smaller in isolated than non-isolated patients for avoidance by visitors with IP to prevent transmission of pathogens may negatively impact mental and social well-being.
Measures to alleviate adverse effects of IP should be taken routinely. The continuous measurement scale enabled more accurate and precise answers than with other psychological assessment tools. All analyses were adjusted for the most common confounding factors including underlying mental illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC recommends isolation precautions IP to prevent transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings, preferably by placing the patient in a single room.
It has been criticised that many of the studies assessing adverse events from IP have not been adequately controlled for illness-severity and were of small sample size. Shorter isolation tends to have less impact on various health outcomes including patient satisfaction, medical encounter and depression. We therefore aimed to quantify the impact of IP on perception of psychological strain in acute care patients colonised or infected with transmissible pathogens, especially MDROs, and various degrees of comorbidities using a standardised approach borrowed from psychology research.
