| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Abrahamson 2006 | Uncontrolled study; 1 type of training only |
| Abualenain 2018 | No comparison group |
| Alraddadi 2016 | No comparison group |
| Anderson 2017 | No highly infectious disease exposure |
| Beam 2011 | No control group with an active intervention |
| Beam 2014 | Uncontrolled study; only 1 type of training in donning and doffing studied with video recordings |
| Beam 2016a | Not an empirical study |
| Beam 2016b | Not an empirical study |
| Bearman 2007 | Trial of universal gloving, not as part of full‐body PPE |
| Bischoff 2019 | No highly infectious disease exposure |
| Borchert 2007 | Description of use of PPE in MHF outbreak, not a case‐control or cohort study |
| Bosc 2016 | Wrong comparator |
| Buianov 1991 | Study compares 2 types of PPE for highly infectious diseases but does not measure contamination or infection as outcome, only physiological parameters (native speaker assessment AP) |
| Butt 2016 | Wrong comparator |
| Casanova 2008 | Not a comparative study; only studied 1 method of doffing |
| Casanova 2018 | No comparison group |
| Castle 2009 | Outcome only performance with PPE and not infection rate or adherence |
| Chandramohan 2018 | No comparison group |
| Christian 2004 | Investigation of cluster of SARS infected HCW; not a case‐control or cohort study |
| Chughtai 2013 | Overview focusing on mask use only, not part of full‐body PPE |
| Clay 2015 | Simulation study; military HCWs; no control group |
| Coates 2000 | Outcome performance only not infection rates or adherence |
| Coca 2015 | Wrong type of participants, thermal manikin study |
| Coca 2017 | Secondary outcomes only |
| Colebunders 2004 | Description of MHF outbreak; not a case‐control or cohort study |
| Cooper 2005 | Simulation study, but of facial protection only, no full‐body PPE involved |
| Delaney 2016 | No comparison group |
| Doll 2017a | No comparison group |
| Doll 2017b | No comparison group |
| Doshi 2016 | No comparison group |
| Drew 2016 | No comparison group |
| DuBose 2018 | Wrong study design |
| Dunn 2015 | Case study of spread of infection in 1 hospital; used in discussion section |
| Elcin 2016 | No comparison group |
| Fischer 2015 | Not a primary study, literature review |
| Fogel 2017 | Wrong study design |
| Foote 2017 | Wrong intervention |
| Franklin 2016 | Not an empirical study |
| Garibaldi 2019 | Secondary outcomes only |
| Gozel 2013 | Description of use of PPE among HCW exposed to CCHF; not case‐control or cohort study |
| Grélot 2015 | Measurement of thermal strain, no infection or contamination or compliance measured |
| Grélot 2016 | Measurement of thermal strain, no infection or contamination or compliance measured |
| Hendler 2000 | PPE versus no PPE; outcome performance only |
| Herlihey 2016 | No comparison group |
| Herlihey 2017 | No comparison group |
| Hersi 2015 | Not a primary study, rapid review |
| Ho 2003 | Descriptive study of SARS outbreak and HCWs use of PPE; not a case‐control or cohort study |
| Ho 2004 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Hon 2008 | Evaluation of on‐line PPE training; uncontrolled study, no comparison training |
| Hormbrey 1996 | Description of introduction of new clothing; no infection or adherence outcome |
| Huh 2020 | No comparison group |
| Jacob 2018 | Not empirical study |
| Jaffe 2019 | No personal contamination outcome |
| Jaques 2016 | Report contains no data |
| Jeffs 2007 | Description of control of MHF outbreak; not a case‐control or cohort study |
| Jinadatha 2015 | Wrong type of participants, investigation of disinfection on different PPE fabrics and components |
| Jones 2020 | Not empirical study |
| Kahveci 2019 | Participants not HCWs |
| Kang 2017 | Wrong study design |
| Kang 2017a | No comparison group |
| Kappes Ramirez 2018 | Wrong outcomes |
| Keane 1977 | Description of risk of HCW only; no evaluation of PPE safety |
| Kerstiens 1999 | Desription of Ebola outbreak; not case‐control or cohort study |
| Kilinc‐Balci 2016 | Not an empirical study |
| Kilinc‐Balci 2015 | Report contains no data |
| Kim 2015 | No control group, HCWs infected with MERS CoV |
| Ko 2004 | Description of risk of EMT staff; no evaluation of PPE safety |
| Kogutt 2019 | No comparison group |
| Kratz 2017 | Report contains no data |
| Kwon 2016 | No comparison group |
| Kwon 2017 | No comparison group |
| Lai 2005 | Study of SARS IgG prevalence in HCWs who did not become sick, no PPE use measured |
| Lai 2011 | No personal contamination measured only environmental contamination |
| Lange 2005 | Letter to the editor; not primary study |
| Lau 2004 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Le 2004 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Lee 2017 | Report contains no data |
| Lindsley 2012 | Test respiratory protection only; not part of full‐body PPE |
| Lindsley 2014 | Tests respiratory protection only; not part of full‐body PPE |
| Liu 2009 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Loeb 2004 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Low 2005 | A review of SARS and HCW; not a primary study |
| Lowe 2014 | Description of PPE use only; no adherence or infection outcomes |
| Lu 2006 | Comparison of viral load in patients infected outside and inside hospital; comparison is with no PPE |
| Lu 2020 | No Intervention |
| Luo 2011 | Simulation study of 1 Tyvek® (duPont) suit only, no comparison suit or no comparison doffing method |
| Ma 2004 | Retrospective case‐control study about PPE for SARS, compares consistent versus inconsistent use not 2 types |
| Makovicka 2018 | No highly infectious disease exposure |
| Malik 2006 | Participants not exposed to highly infectious diseases |
| Marklund 2002 | Description of Ebola patient transportation; not an intervention study |
| Matanock 2014 | Description of risk of infection of HCW compared to general population; no evaluation of PPE |
| McLaws 2016 | Not an empirical study |
| Mehtar 2015 | No control group, 2 infection prevention and control training courses |
| Minnich 2003 | Description of ambulance adaptation for transport of highly infected patients; not evaluation or intervention study |
| Mollura 2015 | Review; EVD within radiology wards and on imaging equipment |
| Moore 2005 | Review not intervention study |
| Morgan 2009 | Review of adverse effects of contact precautions |
| Mumma 2018 | No comparison group |
| Mumma 2019 | No Intervention |
| Muyembe‐Tamfum 1999 | Description of Ebola outbreak; not case‐control or cohort study |
| Nikiforuk 2017 | Wrong patient population |
| Nishiura 2005 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Northington 2007 | No comparison group; only 1 type of education with follow‐up |
| Novosad 2016 | No comparison group |
| Nyenswah 2015 | Case study of EVD cluster including HCWs, but insufficient information on PPE to draw any conclusions |
| Ofner 2003 | SARS case series only; no healthy controls; not case control or cohort study |
| Ofner‐Agostini 2006 | SARS case series only; no healthy controls; not case control or cohort study |
| Ogendo 2008 | Eye protection only; not part of full‐body PPE |
| Ong 2013 | No exposure to highly infectious diseases |
| Park 2004 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Parveen 2018 | No comparison group |
| Pei 2006 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Phan 2018 | Wrong intervention |
| Phrampus 2016 | No comparison group |
| Porteous 2018 | No personal contamination outcome |
| Quinn 2018 | Wrong outcomes |
| Ragazzoni 2015 | No control group, virtual reality simulation training study |
| Ransjo 1979 | No exposure to highly infectious diseases |
| Reynolds 2006 | Case‐control study evaluating SARS risk in HCWs in Vietnam but no inclusion of PPE use |
| Rosenberg 2016 | Report of publication of Tomas 2015 |
| Russell 2015 | No control group, no outcome, before/after summary card |
| Scales 2003 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Schumacher 2010 | Comparison is no PPE; outcome is performance time only |
| Scott Taylor 2017 | Wrong outcomes |
| Seto 2003 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Shao 2015 | Not a primary study, Chinese review |
| Sorensen 2008 | No exposure to highly infectious diseases |
| Su 2017 | No comparison group |
| Suen 2017 | No highly infectious disease exposure |
| Tartari 2015 | No control group, infection control readiness checklist (from 45 countries), no outcome |
| Teleman 2004 | Compares consistent versus inconsistent use of PPE, not 2 different types |
| Tomas 2015 | No comparison used only description of contamination in a simulation study |
| Tomas 2016a | Wrong intervention |
| Torres 2015 | Not a primary study, literature review |
| Visnovsky 2019 | No personal contamination outcome |
| Weber 2018 | No comparison group |
| Weber 2019 | No Intervention |
| West 2014 | Not a primary study but a commentary |
| Williams 2019 | No comparison group |
| Xi 2016 | No comparison group |
| Yin 2004 | Case‐control study of use of PPE for SARS, not comparing 2 different types of PPE |
| Yuan 2018 | Not empirical study |
| Zellmer 2015 | No control group, checklist for removing PPE |
| Zhou 2003 | Follow‐up of HCWs exposed to SARS and their PPE and protection measures, not comparative study |
CCHF: Crimean‐Congo haemorrhagic fever; EMT: emergency medical technician; EVD: Ebola virsu disease; HCW: healthcare worker; IgG: immunoglobulin G; MERS CoV; Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; MHF: Marburg haemorrhagic fever; PPE: personal protective equipment; SARS: severe acute respiratory syndrome