The impact of COVID-19 on autism research: A cross-sectional analysis of discontinued or suspended clinical trials.
Autism Res
; 15(8): 1560-1564, 2022 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1877560
ABSTRACT
Due to uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 public health crisis, several clinical trials had to be withdrawn or postponed. Our investigation aimed to assess the rate of discontinuation of clinical trials focusing on Autism Spectrum Disorder. Of the 197 registered trials included in our systematic review, 15 (7.6%) were discontinued, with nearly half of these explicitly citing COVID-19 as their reason for discontinuation. Pharmacological trials were six times more likely to be discontinued during the pandemic than non-pharmacological studies. The difference between the likelihood of discontinuation was statistically significant (OR 6.13; 95% CI 1.22-30.71). There was no evidence of association between funding source and reasons for discontinuation. Limitations, along with implications for future trials are discussed. LAY SUMMARY:
We investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the discontinuation rate of autism clinical trials. We found that drug trials were six times more likely to be discontinued during the pandemic compared to behavioral, diagnostic, and nutritional trials. The overall discontinuation rate was notably lower in autism clinical trials than in other areas of medical research. We recommend an examination of the methodology of the continued autism trials to assess their applicability in other fields.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Autistic Disorder
/
Autism Spectrum Disorder
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Autism Res
Journal subject:
Psychiatry
/
Mental Disorders
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Aur.2764
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