Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35670304›Full record

SynthesisAutism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research2022

The impact of COVID-19 on autism research: A cross-sectional analysis of discontinued or suspended clinical trials.

Monika Neale, Elizabeth Landers, Nicholas B Sajjadi, Anya Mazur-Mosiewicz, Micah Hartwell

Open access · greenAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The impact of COVID-19 on autism research: A cross-sectional analysis of discontinued or suspended clinical trials.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2022
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Monika NealeCollege of Osteopathic Medicine, Kansas City University, Joplin, Missouri, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0603-3271
Elizabeth LandersOffice of Medical Student Research, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Nicholas B SajjadiOffice of Medical Student Research, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1716-2404
Anya Mazur-MosiewiczDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Micah HartwellOffice of Medical Student Research, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences · USKansas City University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

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.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderCOVID-19Cross-Sectional StudiesHumansPandemicsautismclinical trialsCOVID-19discontinuationpandemic

Identifiers

PMID35670304
PMCPMC9348199
OpenAlexW4281999374

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.