Current Questions Under Review

March 19, 2020

• What is the evidence for healthcare workers continuing to work at the clinical front line when pregnant?
• What’s best, tight asthma control using inhaled corticosteroids to reduce the inflammatory response (usual treatment) or do high doses of inhaled corticosteroids predispose to more severe pneumonitis with covid19?
• Does Vitamin C reduce the duration and symptoms of COVID-19
• What evidence is there for smoking and smoking cessation in ARI?
• What is the evidence for CRP and D-dimer as prognostic markers in COVID-19
• Effective measures to reduce spread of COVID-19 in care homes
• Stopping immunosuppressants during COVID-19 infection in people with chronic respiratory health problems
• What clinical markers or scoring systems can be used to help in diagnosis or assessment of severity of COVID-19 infection
• When and in what circumstances do we palliate elderly/frail patients at home?
• What is the efficacy of ‘armour-lite’ personal protective equipment (PPE) as offered to UK primary care staff in the context of COVID-19
• What counts as an aerosol generating procedure (AGP) and how consistent and evidence-based is current guidance?
• Review of guidelines: what infection control practices should be used in primary care in the context of COVID (includes general practice, community pharmacies, dental, optometry)
• Review of guidelines: what infection control practices should be used in non-healthcare settings relevant to primary care?
• What forms of non-standard PPE are there (e.g. home-made masks) and what is the evidence of their efficacy?
• What is the clinical time course of a detectable SARS-CoV-2 signal by RT-PCR assay in patients with Covid-19?
• Is there evidence that soap and water is better than soap + emollient
• What is the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in alleviating the symptoms of COVID-19?
• Are people living with HIV at increased risk of developing COVID19?
• Quarantine and its potential impact on psychological health
• What are the risk factors and benefits of prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism in COVID-19 patients?
• In a patient admitted to hospital requiring supplemental O2 (and bilateral CXr changes?), what is the mortality rate (stratified by age / gender / comorbidity)?
• Use of telephone / video consultations in palliative care and  the impact on physical/ psychological/ social and spiritual well being during COVID-19
• The evidence for diversional and other activities delivered within the family home by family carers on maintaining physical and cognitive function in people with dementia who are social isolating during COVID-19
• What is the evidence that breathing exercises help in reducing the severity of COVID and in rehabilitation?
• Are people with severe mental illness at increased risk of contracting COVID-19, and do people with severe mental illness experience worse outcomes with COVID-19?’
• What are modifiable risk factors for ARDS?
• The scientific evidence behind the 2-metre rule?
• In patients admitted to the hospital with suspected COVID-19 infection, what is the accuracy of computed tomography (LRs) for the diagnosis confirmation
• In Covid-19, what information can help healthcare workers identify when treatment aimed at prolonging life is proving ineffective (or its burden outweighs its benefit), to support appropriate treatment de-escalation decisions?
• How can patients with Covid-19 and their family or unpaid carers be enabled and supported to manage safe and effective titration of palliative care medication at home?
• What can enable or hinder patients in the community to make or update advance care plans in the context of Covid-19?