A scoping review of the impacts of COVID-19 physical distancing measures on vulnerable population groups

Abstract

Most governments have enacted physical or social distancing measures to control COVID-19 transmission. Yet little is known about the socio-economic trade-offs of these measures, especially for vulnerable populations, who are exposed to increased risks and are susceptible to adverse health outcomes. To examine the impacts of physical distancing measures on the most vulnerable in society, this scoping review screened 39,816 records and synthesised results from 265 studies worldwide documenting the negative impacts of physical distancing on older people, children/students, low-income populations, migrant workers, people in prison, people with disabilities, sex workers, victims of domestic violence, refugees, ethnic minorities, and people from sexual and gender minorities. We show that prolonged loneliness, mental distress, unemployment, income loss, food insecurity, widened inequality and disruption of access to social support and health services were unintended consequences of physical distancing that impacted these vulnerable groups and highlight that physical distancing measures exacerbated the vulnerabilities of different vulnerable populations.

Fig. 1. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) flow diagram.

It summarises the data collection and screening processes. We screened 39,816 records and synthesised 265 eligible studies in this review.

Fig. 2. Distribution of included studies across countries and vulnerable groups.

a Global map. b Data distribution around Europe. c Data distribution around Asia. Data listed in Supplementary Tables 5–7. QGIS version 3.16.12 was used to generate the map (Open Source Geographic Information System, http://www.qgis.org). Global map was downloaded from the OpenStreetMap © OpenStreetMap contributors. Available under the Open Database Licence from: openstreetmap.org.