Literature Search Methods

A limited literature search was conducted on key resources including PubMed, EBSCOhost CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) databases, ECRI, Canadian and major international health technology agencies, as well as a focused Internet search. No filters were applied to limit the retrieval by study type. Where possible, retrieval was limited to the human population. The search was also limited to English language documents published between January 1, 2011 and March 15, 2016.

Rapid Response reports are organized so that the evidence for each research question is presented separately.

Selection Criteria and Methods

One reviewer screened citations and selected studies. In the first level of screening, titles and abstracts were reviewed and potentially relevant articles were retrieved and assessed for inclusion. The final selection of full-text articles was based on the inclusion criteria presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Selection Criteria.

Exclusion Criteria

Articles were excluded if they did not meet the selection criteria outlined in Table 1, they were duplicate publications, or were published prior to 2011. In addition, studies were excluded if the patient population consisted of surgical patients or pregnant women, or if the study comparators were alternative chlorhexidine preparations (e.g., sponge and solution).

Critical Appraisal of Individual Studies

The included systematic reviews were critically appraised using the AMSTAR instrument,⁵ while randomized and non-randomized studies were critically appraised using the Downs and Black checklist.⁶ Summary scores were not calculated for the included studies; rather, a review of the strengths and limitations of each included study were described narratively.