International research priorities to address the long-term respiratory consequences of COVID-19

Aim Patients with pre-existing airways diseases are at higher risk of developing serious outcomes from COVID-19. We sought to identify research priorities to address the long-term respiratory consequences of COVID-19. MethodUsing the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative method, we invited international experts to submit three research questions/priorities. Suggestions were scored by the experts using five criteria: answerability, feasibility, timeliness, impact on burden reduction and equity. The overall Research Priority Score was calculated for each question as the mean of the scores across the five criteria. We gained the views of patients on which of the five criteria was most important to them and used their responses to weight the research priority score. ResultsWe invited 202 experts, of whom 59 contributed research questions. In total, 98 research questions were scored by 48 experts. Research priorities perceived to have the most impact on burden reduction, answerability and equity were weighted higher following responses from 61 patients. Of the top 20 priorities identified: 11 priorities sought to describe the long-term clinical features and complications of COVID-19 in patients with airways disease following discharged from hospital; 5 priorities related to predicting future morbidity after hospitalisation with COVID-19 in those with airways disease; 4 priorities recommended evaluating rehabilitation options for individuals who have airways disease after COVID-19. ConclusionUnderstanding the longer-term effects of COVID-19 for those with airways disease were the top research priorities identified from this study. Including responses from patients ensured that questions most likely to lead to a reduction in burden of disease were prioritised. We hope that clinicians, academics, funders and policymakers will draw upon our findings to prioritise future research into the long-term consequences of COVID-19. Implementation Science/Service Development Research Ideas on Respiratory Conditions and Tobacco Dependency Abstract Declaration of Interest FundingHealth Data Research UK BREATHE Hub, National Institute for Health Research, UK Research and Innovation: Medical Research Council. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the PHOSP-COVID consortium. References and Clinical Trial Registry Information