Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ongoing health research: an ad hoc survey among investigators in Germany

Bratan, T.; Aichinger, H.; Brkic, N.; Rueter, J.; Apfelbacher, C.; Loss, J.

Objectives: To gain insights into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ongoing health research projects, using projects from a selected funding programme in Germany as an example. Design: Online survey Setting: Lockdowns and social distancing policies impact upon clinical and public health research in various forms, especially if unrelated to COVID-19. Research institutions have reduced onsite activities, data is often collected remotely, and during the height of the crisis, clinical researchers were partially forced to abandon their projects in favour of front-line care and crisis response. Participants: 120 investigators of health research projects across Germany, performed between 15 and 25 May 2020. Results: The response rate (78%) showed that the survey generated significant interest among investigators. 85 responses were included for analysis, and the majority of investigators (93%) reported that their projects were affected by the pandemic, with many (80%) stating that data collection was not possible as planned, and they could not carry out interventions as planned (67%). Other impacts were caused by staff being unavailable, for example through child or elder care commitments or because of COVID-19 quarantine or illness. Investigators also reported that publications were delayed or not feasible at all (56%), and some experienced problems with PhD or Masters theses (18%). The majority of investigators had mitigation strategies in place such as adjustment of data collection methods using digital tools (46%) or of project implementation in general (46%), others made changes in research design or research questions (27%). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted upon health research projects. The main challenge is now to mitigate negative effects and to improve long-term resilience in health research. The pandemic has also acted as a driver of innovation and change, for example by accelerating the use of digital methods.