Evidence mapPaperPMID 36947467Full record

ArticleThe New England journal of medicine2023

Covid-19 Surveillance Testing and Resident Outcomes in Nursing Homes.

Brian E McGarry, Ashvin D Gandhi, Michael L Barnett

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The New England journal of medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
7.8field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. [Recommendations on prevention and treatment of respiratory infections in institutionalised older people].Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
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  16. Observational
  17. Modeling the Transmission Mitigation Impact of Testing for Infectious Diseases.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024
    Article
  18. Article
  19. In Support of Universal Admission Testing for SARS-CoV-2 During Significant Community Transmission.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2024
    Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Brian E McGarryFrom the Division of Geriatrics and Aging, Department of Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (B.E.M.); the Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles (A.D.G.); and the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital - both in Boston (M.L.B.).ORCID 0000-0001-5342-6548
Ashvin D GandhiFrom the Division of Geriatrics and Aging, Department of Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (B.E.M.); the Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles (A.D.G.); and the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital - both in Boston (M.L.B.).ORCID 0000-0002-7875-8773
Michael L BarnettFrom the Division of Geriatrics and Aging, Department of Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (B.E.M.); the Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles (A.D.G.); and the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital - both in Boston (M.L.B.).ORCID 0000-0002-4884-6609
Harvard University · USBrigham and Women's Hospital · US

Funding

NIA NIH HHS K23 AG058806
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite widespread adoption of surveillance testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) among staff members in skilled nursing facilities, evidence is limited regarding its relationship with outcomes among facility residents.

methodsUsing data obtained from 2020 to 2022, we performed a retrospective cohort study of testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among staff members in 13,424 skilled nursing facilities during three pandemic periods: before vaccine approval, before the B.1.1.529 (omicron) variant wave, and during the omicron wave. We assessed staff testing volumes during weeks without Covid-19 cases relative to other skilled nursing facilities in the same county, along with Covid-19 cases and deaths among residents during potential outbreaks (defined as the occurrence of a case after 2 weeks with no cases). We reported adjusted differences in outcomes between high-testing facilities (90th percentile of test volume) and low-testing facilities (10th percentile). The two primary outcomes were the weekly cumulative number of Covid-19 cases and related deaths among residents during potential outbreaks.

resultsDuring the overall study period, 519.7 cases of Covid-19 per 100 potential outbreaks were reported among residents of high-testing facilities as compared with 591.2 cases among residents of low-testing facilities (adjusted difference, -71.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], -91.3 to -51.6). During the same period, 42.7 deaths per 100 potential outbreaks occurred in high-testing facilities as compared with 49.8 deaths in low-testing facilities (adjusted difference, -7.1; 95% CI, -11.0 to -3.2). Before vaccine availability, high- and low-testing facilities had 759.9 cases and 1060.2 cases, respectively, per 100 potential outbreaks (adjusted difference, -300.3; 95% CI, -377.1 to -223.5), along with 125.2 and 166.8 deaths (adjusted difference, -41.6; 95% CI, -57.8 to -25.5). Before the omicron wave, the numbers of cases and deaths were similar in high- and low-testing facilities; during the omicron wave, high-testing facilities had fewer cases among residents, but deaths were similar in the two groups.

conclusionsGreater surveillance testing of staff members at skilled nursing facilities was associated with clinically meaningful reductions in Covid-19 cases and deaths among residents, particularly before vaccine availability.

Indexed as

COVID-19Disease OutbreaksHealth PersonnelPopulation SurveillanceSkilled Nursing FacilitiesHumansPandemicsPatientsRetrospective StudiesSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID36947467
PMCPMC10052223
OpenAlexW4353015018

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.