Table 1.

Characteristics of the 46 accepted studies

Highest level of isolation	Isolation ward	Nurse cohorting	Other isolation measures
No of studies	18	9	19
Range of study durations	3 months-15 years	3.5 months-4 years	1 month-9 years
Whole hospital setting	16	3	7
Hospital unit setting (such as burns, intensive care)	2	6	12
Other control measures
Screening for MRSA	18	9	14
Topical eradication therapy	12	5	8
Hand hygiene programme	8	2	6
Antibiotic restriction	3	0	2
Study design
Prospective interrupted time series	1	2	8
Retrospective interrupted time series	15	3	2
Hybrid retrospective and prospective interrupted time series	0	2	5
Retrospective cohort study	0	0	1
Non-comparative (one phase) studies	2	2	3