Objective: People with chronic medical conditions are at risk of complications and mortality during the COVID-19 outbreak. Understanding mental health implications, including effects of isolation and movement restrictions, should consider specific fears and level of fear experienced. No questionnaires or scales, however, have been developed for this purpose. We sought input from people living with the chronic autoimmune disease systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) on items for inclusion in a preliminary version of the COVID-19 Fears Questionnaire for Systemic Sclerosis, which we also adapted for a preliminary general version, the COVID-19 Fears Questionnaire for Chronic Medical Conditions.Methods: We solicited lists of general and disease-specific fears during COVID-19 from people with SSc via social media and postings by patient organizations. Respondents could provide between 1 and 10 fears via a Qualtrics survey. We used content analysis to generate initial item themes. Selection of items for inclusion, item content, and item wording were done iteratively via email discussion among research team members and the project’s patient advisory team. Items were then adapted for the general chronic diseases version.Results: A total of 121 respondents from 10 countries provided a mean and median of 4 item suggestions. The preliminary COVID-19 Fears Questionnaire for Systemic Sclerosis includes 16 items, and the general version includes 15 items.Conclusion: The COVID-19 Fears Questionnaire for Systemic Sclerosis will be validated via a cohort study, and other researchers are encouraged to validate the general version. Suggestions are made to facilitate rapid sharing of methods and results.
Background: A previous study found that 2 of 29 (6.9%) meta-analyses published in high-impact journals in 2009 reported included drug trials’ funding sources, and none reported trial authors’ financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) or industry employment. It is not known if reporting has improved since 2009. Our objectives were to (1) investigate the extent to which pharmaceutical industry funding and author-industry FCOIs and employment from included drug trials are reported in meta-analyses published in high-impact journals; and (2) compare current reporting with results from 2009.Methods: We searched PubMed (January 2017 – October 2018) for systematic reviews with meta-analyses including ≥ 2 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of patented drugs. We included 3 meta-analyses published January 2017-October 2018 from each of 4 high-impact general medicine journals, high-impact journals from 5 specialty areas, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, as in the previous study. Results: Among 29 meta-analyses reviewed, 13 of 29 (44.8%) reported the funding source of included trials compared to 2 of 29 (6.9%) in 2009, a difference of 37.9% (95% confidence interval, 15.7% to 56.3%); this included 7 of 11 (63.6%) from general medicine journals, 3 of 15 (20.0%) from specialty medicine journals, and 3 of 3 (100%) Cochrane reviews. Only 2 of 29 meta-analyses (6.9%) reported trial author FCOIs, and none reported trial author-industry employment.Protocol Publication: (https://osf.io/8xt5p/) Limitations: We examined only a relatively small number of meta-analyses from selected high-impact journals and compared results to a similarly small sample from an earlier time period.Conclusions: Reporting of drug trial sponsorship and author FCOIs in meta-analyses published in high-impact journals has increased since 2009 but is still suboptimal. Standards on reporting of trial funding described in the forthcoming revised PRISMA statement should be adapted and enforced by journals to improve reporting.
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