Open AccessCovid-19 research evidence: An international survey exploring views on useful sources, preferred formats, and accessibility
Author(s) -
E. Tomlinson,
Debra de Silva,
Jana Stojanova,
Roses Parker,
Muriah Umoquit,
Stephanie Lagosky,
BeyMarrié Schmidt,
Karen Head
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of evidence-based healthcare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2675-021X
DOI - 10.17267/2675-021xevidence.2022.e4010
Subject(s) - social media , influencer marketing , public relations , government (linguistics) , promotion (chess) , covid-19 , evidence based practice , political science , psychology , business , medicine , politics , marketing , alternative medicine , linguistics , philosophy , disease , pathology , relationship marketing , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law , marketing management
In a pandemic, stakeholders such as policy makers, clinicians, patients, and the public need access to high-quality, timely, relevant research evidence in a format that is understandable and applicable. OBJECTIVES: An online survey was used to determine where a global audience finds research evidence about COVID-19 and how they prefer to keep up to date. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We conducted an online survey of people interested in research in English and Spanish. We used a convenience sample of people visiting websites and social media accounts of Cochrane, an international organisation that collates systematic reviews of research. RESULTS: 831 people with various roles and locations responded over a short period with little active promotion. Healthcare professionals, members of the public, and policy influencers wanted research evidence to inform decisions about COVID-19. More than half found research evidence from government websites (52%), international organisations (57%), journals (56%), and evidence collation organisations (60%) useful. People wanted research evidence about COVID-19 formats such as lay summaries (60%), online systematic reviews (60%), short summaries with commentaries (51%), and visual summaries (48%). People preferred to be kept up to date about COVID-19 research via email updates and newsletters, tailored to people’s interests (34%), traditional media (13%) and social media (12%). CONCLUSIONS: It was feasible to collect feedback rapidly using a simple online survey. Websites from official organisations were key sources of COVID-19 research evidence. More research is needed on how best to provide evidence that is easy to access and understand.