An evaluation of interventions to improve outcomes for hospitalized patients in isolation: A systematic review

•Hospitalized patients in isolation experience adverse mental health and physical outcomes.•Music therapy and psychological interventions have been investigated but the quality the evidence is poor.•Improved communication and increased contact between staff and patients and their families is needed, including regular monitoring of patient's mental wellbeing as part of standard care.•Comprehensive multi-faceted interventions might be an appropriate and effective way to manage patients in isolation which needs to be investigated in high quality studies. Isolation is effective in preventing transmission of infectious disease. However, it has been shown to have negative effects including increased anxiety and poor physical outcomes. To summarize the effects of interventions to improve safety and outcomes for patients in isolation Systematic review (PROSPERO protocol registration - CRD42020222779). Acute hospital Intervention studies including patients in preventative or protective isolation in a single room. MEDLINE, Global Health, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and Excerpta Medica database were searched from 1996-October 2020. Two independent reviewers screened references and assessed risk of bias. One reviewer extracted data and was checked by another. Main outcomes were Quality of Life and mortality. We identified 16,698 references and included 6 studies with different study designs. Average age ranged from 4-71 years. Samples sizes were small (range 10-49 participants) apart from one non-randomized controlled trial including >600 participants. Interventions were music therapy (n = 3), psychological counseling (n = 2) and exercise training (n = 1). One study reporting on Quality of Life and found no change after exercise. None of the studies reported on mortality. Due to heterogeneous results no meta-analyses were performed. There is a lack of high-quality evidence for effective comprehensive interventions to manage adverse effects associated with isolation. Future studies should investigate the effect of multi-component interventions using rigorous methods to improve outcomes for hospitalized isolated patients.