Guidelines for preventing respiratory illness in older adults aged 60 years and above living in long-term care: A rapid review of clinical practice guidelines

Patricia Rios; Amruta Radhakrishnan; Sonia M. Thomas; Nazia Darvesh; Sharon E. Straus; Andrea C. Tricco

The most commonly recommended prevention strategies across the clinical practice guidelines were hand hygiene, wearing personal protective equipment, social distancing/isolation, disinfecting surfaces, droplet precautions, surveillance and evaluation, conducting diagnostic testing to confirm suspected respiratory illness, policies and procedures for visitors, policies and procedures for staff, and respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette. For managing respiratory illness in long-term care facilities, the majority of the clinical practice guidelines recommended antivirals for prophylaxis of staff and/or residents. However, most of the clinical practice guidelines failed to address multiple AGREE-II items, suggesting that they are most likely based on expert opinion.