Clinical research during COVID-19

Sathish Srinivasan, Associate European Editor of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, says that clinical research will have a major impact during the current pandemic. As most ophthalmology units are currently seeing only patients with ocular emergency, clinical research involving prospective patient follow ups will be taking a back seat during this difficult period. Professor Srinivasan said that while research would have a major effect in helping ophthalmologists and other healthcare professionals to contain COVID-19, the major challenge they faced was in adjusting to the day-to-day reality of fighting the virus. “Healthcare professionals, like everyone else, have been thrown into a new world dominated by fear and uncertainty,” he said. “We are wondering what we can do to confront this pandemic. As is the case with my friends and colleagues, this is certainly the first experience of a serious global pandemic. As ophthalmologists, our roles are a bit unclear. In my university practice, we have seen a complete shift of roles and workloads of my medical colleagues. There has been lack of clarity on the use of personal protective equipment in an ophthalmology setting and as per our local guidelines and policies we are trying our best to provide a safe environment for our patients and our staff. Also, the current scenario has a major impact on teaching and training residents,” he said. In conclusion, Dr Srinavasan said that he was optimistic for the future of ophthalmology after COVID-19. “With the decrease in workload and with the enforcement of social distancing I certainly feel this is a good time to collate your results, analyse and finish writing up the manuscripts if one is at that stage,” said Prof Srinavasan, Consultant Ophthalmologist at University Hospital Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland. Dr Srinavasan, in an interview with EuroTimes, said there had been no notable decrease in submission to JCRS since the outbreak of COVID-19. “We are only two-to-three weeks into ‘lockdown period’, therefore I haven't seen any impact to the submissions,” said Prof Srinavasan. “However, it is worth bearing in mind that there is a time lag between conducting the research, analysing and writing up the manuscripts.  In other words,” he said,” the work on manuscripts that are currently being submitted was done one-to-two years ago, depending on the type of clinical research.” “I have no doubt that collectively as a society, humanity will get past this pandemic, although I feel there will be change in perspective and our lifestyle,” he said.

Tags: covid-19, research