Impact of COVID-19 social distancing on medical research from the perspective of postgraduate students: a cross-sectional online survey

Abstract

Objective To investigate the impact of COVID-19 social distancing on medical research from the perspective of postgraduate students. Methods A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted from October 31 to November 1, 2021. A questionnaire was used to assess the impact of COVID-19 social distancing on medical research among postgraduate students. The questionnaire included basic information, medical research information, and information about social distancing measures. Participants also completed the self-made Research Work Affected Scale of Postgraduates (RWAS-P; qualitative evaluation: very mildly 0–10; mildly 11–20; moderately 21–30; severely 31–40; very severely 41–50). Logistic regression was used to identify factors related to the impact of COVID-19 social distancing. Results A total of 468 participants were analyzed; 95.2% of the participants adhered to social distancing measures. The median total RWAS-P score was 22. The median RWAS-P scores for earlier research data, current research projects, future research plans, paper publication, and graduation schedule were 2, 6, 6, 6, and 4, respectively (score range 0–10). The higher grade of students, experimental research, and existence of inappetence or sleeplessness were related to negative attitude towards COVID-19 social distancing (odd ratio = 6.35, 9.80, 2.31, 2.15, 1.95, respectively). Conclusions Participants reported that social distancing had a moderate overall impact on their medical research. Social distancing had the greatest impact on current research projects, future research plans, and paper publications among postgraduate students. Higher grade level, experimental research type, inappetence, and sleeplessness were related to the impact of social distancing on their medical research.

Knowledge and vaccination intention of monkeypox in China's general population: A cross-sectional online survey

“…The questionnaire preparation process was based on prior research [ 16 ]. A pool of items was formed based on the survey dimensions.…”

Impact of Social Distancing on Research Activities: An online cross-sectional survey

“…This may be the reason for the wide variation of perceived impact due to the implementation of social distancing measures in their respective universities or institutes. The study cohort was somewhat different from those surveyed by Dong et al (2022) and Bratan et al (2021). The postgraduate medical students in Dong et al reported an overall moderate impact on their research.…”

“…Regarding social distancing, studies have highlighted the impact of social distancing on mental wellbeing (Abdelrahman et al, 2022;Cao et al, 2020;Marroquín et al, 2020;Odriozola-González et al, 2020;Peterson et al, 2021). However, data on the impact on research sustainability are still scarce (Bratan et al, 2021;Dong et al, 2022). Bratan et al (2021) surveyed research investigators from selected funding programmes in Germany on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ongoing health research projects.…”

“…Their studies reflected the widespread impact of the pandemic, not specifically on social distancing. Dong et al (2022) surveyed the perspective of postgraduate students involved in medical research in China. However, both studies were focused on medical research and limited to the social distancing practices of their countries.…”

Navigating postgraduate research during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review

“…Consequently, most postgraduate research stalled. However, in a study conducted in China, postgraduate students benefited from stay-at-home measures, as they spent most of their time writing manuscripts (Dong et al 2022 :1), mining older data sets and extracting information from large online data sets (Hedding et al 2020 :7). Limited face-to-face seminars and conferences where postgraduates exchange ideas on research were reported as one of the challenges that postgraduates students faced during the pandemic (Rafat & Khan ( 2021 :S77).…”