COVID19 Repository

Cochrane US Network member affiliates and review groups have been undertaking extraordinary new research and creating vital new evidence-based materials to contribute to the science and understanding of COVID-19.  This repository includes links to high-quality research, resources, and reports concerning COVID-19 and various medical, healthcare, and public health topics.  

American College of Physicians (ACP)

ACP is developing rapid, living practice points in order to provide evidence-based responses to highly targeted, pressing clinical questions related to COVID-19. To date, ACP has developed practice points on 3 topics through collaborations with and funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Evidence Synthesis Program. 

The ACP practice points can be found here: https://www.acponline.org/clinical-information/guidelines  

Should Clinicians Use Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine Alone or in Combination with Azithromycin for the Prophylaxis or Treatment of COVID-19? Living Practice Points from the American College of Physicians.
• Update Alert 2 (July 2020): https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-1007
• Update Alert 1 (June 2020): https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-3862
• Version 1 (May 2020): https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1998 

Use of N95, Surgical, and Cloth Masks to Prevent COVID-19 in Health Care and Community Settings: Living Practice Points from the American College of Physicians.
• Update Alert (October 2020): https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-1268 
• Version 1 (June 2020): https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-3234 

Should Remdesivir Be Used for the Treatment of Patients With COVID-19? Rapid, Living Practice Points From the American College of Physicians
• Version 1 (October 2020): https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-5831 

The AHRQ evidence reviews can be found here:
Masks for Prevention of COVID19 https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/masks-covid/rapid-review
Hydroxychloroquine or Chloroquine for Treatment or Prophylaxis of COVID19 https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-2496

Cornell University - Division of Nutritional Science

The Cornell Nutrition US affiliate group is leading a Living Review with WHO to inform guidelines on infant feeding; a manuscript has been submitted and the protocol published in the PROSPERO Database of protocols for systematic reviews. 

Read Transmission of novel coronavirus-19 through breast milk and breastfeeding. A living systematic review of the evidence here.

Additionally, the group was awarded new funding from NIH to develop a point-of-care antigen/antibody test for COVID-19 using the FeverPhone platform; particularly for use in resource-limited settings and ports of entry. 

Read more about Feverphone: Point of care diagnosis of acute febrile illness using a mobile device here.

University of Pennsylvania - Penn Medicine Center for Evidence Based Practice

The Penn Medicine EBP undertakes rapid guidance summary reports of recommendations from public health agencies, professional society organizations, and major medical systems to support Penn Medicine healthcare teams (acute care and ambulatory based) in delivering care using the best available guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Penn EBP also maintains a comprehensive COVID19 public website containing multiple rapid reviews and reports related to various COVID19 topics.  Please check out their in-depth resources.

To see how Rapid Guidance Summary Reports are developed and used, read here.

Check out the Penn Medicine COVID19 website here.

Cochrane Review Group: Eyes and Vision (CEV) - US Satellite Group

The Cochrane Eyes and Vision Review Group has developed a COVID-19 website with links to resources related to COVID-19, eye health, vision, and opthamology.  The CEV group itself has been working with PICO Portal to develop a bibliography database containing COVID-19 publications concerning eyes and vision.

Find the CEV PICO Portal database of publications on COVID19, eyes, and vision here.

The CEV COVID resource webpage is found here.

AcademyHealth

As the leading national organization for health services researchers, policymakers, and health care practitioners and stakeholders, AcademyHealth increases the understanding of methods and data used in the field, enhances the professional skills of researchers and research users, and expands awareness to improve health and health care for all by advancing evidence to inform policy and practice.  AcademyHealth was awarded a COVID research grant in July to investigate the following:

 AcademyHealth’s Evidence-Informed State Health Policy Institute (ESHPI) recently received a COVID-19 award to use the Medicaid Medical Directors Network (MMDN) to convene Medicaid stakeholders to explore potential COVID-19 related subtopics for patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR)/clinical effectiveness research and translation. Using digital platforms, the Medicaid Medical Directors Network will consider and prioritize research topics that have surfaced from this crisis including, but not limited to, the effective use of telemedicine; the unique impact of the pandemic on individuals and families of lower socioeconomic status and of unique cultural and ethnic communities; and the impact on practice transformation (including access to services). Activities to be conducted under this award include an in-person meeting, virtual “Open Mic” calls, periodic electronic communications, an environmental scan, and a research agenda in collaboration with the State-University Partnership Learning Network (SUPLN).

AcademyHealth released a report to identify health systems' priority research questions related to COVID19.  Topics of interest from health systems experts were compiled and include policy, processes, providers, and patient care.  The report will help with rapid-cycle evaluations to learn what is working and what is related to health systems and COVID19. Read the report here.

Cochrane US Review Group: Fertility Regulation (FRG)

As abortion and contraception care services are again threatened during the COVID pandemic, the FRG COVID19 webpage is the most comprehensive in this topic area, including evidence synthesis, clinical resources, and links for both the professional and patient communities.  

FRG has produced three highlighted systematic reviews that discuss remote access to abortion and contraception services, even during a pandemic:

Read the review Mobile phone‐based interventions for improving contraception use here.

Read the review Self-administered versus provider-administered medical abortion here.

Read the review Medical abortion offered in pharmacy versus clinic-based settings here.

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

US Network Affiliate CU Anschutz is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative education, science, medicine and healthcare.  CU researchers have been undertaking multiple investigative research studies on various COVID19 topics, including COVID and sense of smell, animal transmission of coronavirus, and antibody testing.  Additionally, the CU Anschutz NewsRoom highlights programs and stories surrounding relevant topics such as female doctors of color, vulnerable student populations, and ethnic biases in COVID19.

Read about all of these critical research studies and programs here.

U.S. GRADE Network

Members of the U.S. GRADE Network have contributed the development of several rapid guidelines with organizations such as the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).  Additionally, GRADE has contributed to systematic reviews and meta-analyses on therapeutic options and frameworks for sustainable contact tracing programs in large health systems and evidence synthesis in response to a pandemic.  Click on the titles below to read more about each guideline and review.

AGA Institute Rapid Review of the Gastrointestinal and Liver Manifestations of COVID-19, Meta-Analysis of International Data, and Recommendations for the Consultative Management of Patients with COVID-19

AGA Institute Rapid Recommendations for Gastrointestinal Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Infectious Diseases Society of America Guidelines on the Treatment and Management of Patients with COVID-19

Infectious Diseases Society of America Guidelines on the Diagnosis of COVID-19

Infectious Diseases Society of America Guidelines on Infection Prevention for Health Care Personnel Caring for Patients with Suspected or Known COVID-19

Clinical Presentation and Outcomes of Pregnant Women with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Cell-based therapy to reduce mortality from COVID-19: Systematic review and meta-analysis of human studies on acute respiratory distress syndrome

Antirheumatic Disease Therapies for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

A Framework for Sustainable Contact Tracing and Exposure Investigation for Large Health Systems

A Framework for Evidence Synthesis Programs to Respond to a Pandemic

University of Chicago Medicine

The University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) - Center for Healthcare Delivery, Science, and Innovation - has created several clinical pathways to support care of COVID19 patients.  UCM is offering to the pubic this valuable information, which will be updated with new pathways or as pathways are modified.  Clinical pathways integrate evidence-based guidelines with local key stakeholder expertise to promote high value care, providing a road map for “typical” care.  These pathways represent the standard of care at UCM and are a foundational approach used in their clinical high-reliability program.

Read more from UChicago Med and see their COVID Pathways page: https://hdsi.uchicago.edu/uchicago-medicine-covid-19-pathways/ 


Central Michigan University

Central Michigan University's US Cochrane Affiliate lies within the Master of Public Health program.  Recently, two reviews have been conducted through CMU which outline clinical guidelines for diabetes and metabolic syndrome during COVID.

1. Nouhjah S., Jahanfar S., Shabazian H.  (2020) Temporary changes in clinical guidelines of gestational diabetes screening and management during COVID-19 outbreak: A narrative review. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, Volume 14, Issue 5, Pages 939-942. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7299858/

2. Nouhjah S., Jahanfar S. (2020) Challenges of diabetes care management in developing countries with a high incidence of COVID-19: A brief report. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7235559/

Cochrane Collaboration International (Cochrane.org)

Cochrane.org - of which the US Network is one geographical member - provides high-quality, relevant, and up-to-date synthesized research and evidence to inform health decisions. The Cochrane COVID19 page highlights content relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the various related activities that Cochrane is undertaking in response.  Resources include COVID19 special collections of evidence, webinars, plain-language summaries, links to current initatives and global partnerships, and information for policy and guideline developers.

Read the Cochrane COVID page: https://www.cochrane.org/coronavirus-covid-19-cochrane-resources-and-news

Join the Response!

Cochrane provides many ways to get involved with the global COVID19 response.  From budding scientists, professional researchers, and seasoned health experts, there is a way for everyone to contribute to the research and evidence so crucial to forming medical and public health guidelines and recommendations around coronavirus and COVID19.  Opportunities include authoring, reviewing, editing, providing answers, joining brainstorm groups, and responding to tasks posted by member institutions.  Remuneration varies from monetary payment, to Cochrane points for unlocking trainings and library publications, to authorship - but all opportunities provide rewarding opportunities to get involved with Cochrane and our highly reputed members.

Cochrane Crowd:  Become a Cochrane citizen scientist. Anyone can join this collaborative volunteer effort to help categorize and summarize healthcare evidence so that better healthcare decisions can be made.

Cochrane Response: Cochrane Response was created to increase Cochrane’s capacity to respond to requests for commissioned evidence reviews. This group provides tailored and responsive evidence services, and accessible review formats for healthcare commissioners on a fee-for-service basis.

Cochrane Task Exchange: TaskExchange connects people working in health evidence with people who have the time and skills to help.