The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on conducting emergency medicine clinical research

Abstract

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on conducting emergency medicine clinical researchThe COVID-19 pandemic challenges the status quo of conducting emergency medicine (EM) research [1]. Research generates new knowledge for the advancement of the medical field, abiding by ethical parameters [1-3]. As EM is on the frontlines of this global crisis, the aim of this correspondence is to consider the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on EM clinical research.Financial burdens for EM research have been an ongoing concern prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, NIH funding has proved a challenge for EM researchers, garnering only 1.7% of funds [4][5][6]. Additional safety considerations in EM Departments due to COVID-19 drastically increased [7]. Researchers have the added obstacle of devising pathways to safely continue EM research. There has also been a drop in non-COVID-19 patients. The 31%-45% reduction in ED visits across the US, raises concern for patients not seeking care [8]. For instance, there had been a decrease in patients presenting with strokes and STEMIs [8]. This patient population is a crucial element for research; thus, the potential number of patients that could contribute to EM trials is decreased. On the other hand, COVID-19, though disruptive, has opened up new research opportunities [4,9]. For example, Stanford's EM Department is funding a study evaluating clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients [10,11]. Other avenues include exploring topics regarding domestic safety during a pandemic, patient and physician well-being, and alternative communication avenues [3]. Though most institutions around the country have begun to proceed past the COVID-19 crisis, the new pathways devised to maintain research during such unsteady times must be incorporated into future practices, cultivating sustainable research methods that are resilient to crises.During this crisis, the price of patient-safety must be weighed against the cost of halting clinical trials. However, some clinical trials have adapted to the current circumstances and are carrying out their trials via telemedicine, producing sustainable research methods [12]. Though not all clinical research can be fully conducted via telemedicine, such as interventional research, it can be incorporated through its use in participant virtual consenting and follow-up [13][14][15]. This spares patients traveling, as well as reduces potential COVID-19 exposure [1]. For noninterventional research, virtual resources offer web-based platforms to execute survey-based studies as well as data processing components of various types of studies. There is a compelling applicability of utilizing telemedicine in a post-COVID-19 era to conduct clinical research. Continued use of telemedicine could allow clinical trials to address patient barriers to care. Addressing financial and geographical barriers, (although technical barriers could be created) could allow for a larger patient population in clinical trials, increasing the statistical power of trials.

Responses and strategies of Indonesian higher education during COVID-19 pandemic

“…Research during the COVID-19 pandemic employs more online survey research and also systematic literature review methods, both of which do not require face-to-face contact with informants and respondents or work in laboratories so that research with this method is widely found and is an adaptation strategy for researchers at universities in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic [42], [43]. Moreover, research that employs secondary data with both qualitative and quantitative analysis is also the choice of researchers.…”

The experience of nurses in providing holistic nursing care for COVID-19 patients at Banyuwangi Hospital

“…Medical personnel such as nurses are in the top position in the types of work that are most often exposed to diseases and infections such as the risk of facing an exposure to COVID-19 (Tiasari, 2020). The high risk, according to Ehrlich, McKenney, and Elkbuli (2021), is caused by the length of interaction with patients and the large number of patients causing an increase in the number of viruses around them; these factors are exacerbated by the lack of the personal protective equipment (PPE) and lack of knowledge related to the use of the PPE. During the COVID-19 pandemic nurses sacrificed themselves to actively participate in services against the pandemic.…”