Choosing Wisely for COVID-19: ten evidence-based recommendations for patients and physicians.
Pramesh, C. S., Babu, G. R., Basu, J., Bhushan, I., Booth, C. M., Chinnaswamy, G., Guleria, R., Kalantri, S. P. , Kang, G., Mohan, P., Mor,N., Pai, M., Prakash, M., Rupali, P., Sampathkumar, P., Sengar, M., Sullivan, R., & Ranganathan, P. (2021). Choosing wisely for COVID-19: ten evidence-based recommendations for patients and physicians. Nature Medicine, 27(8), 1324-1327.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has produced devastating effects worldwide, with the causative coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infecting over 170 million patients and causing more than 3.5 million deaths as of 1 June 2021. The resultant fear and anxiety among the public and treating physicians has frequently resulted in rapid changes to clinical practices and hospital triage decisions, many of which are not evidence based and are often detrimental. There have been wide variations at global and regional levels on guidance related to mask usage, testing protocols, vaccination and patient triage (both hospital admission and escalation to an intensive care unit), as well as the use of various pharmaceutical interventions in treating patients with COVID-19. Many of these deviations from evidence-based healthcare result in substantial harm, as they divert efforts and resources from outcome-based, data-driven best practices toward those that are of doubtful efficacy and are even harmful. As many countries continue to experience repeated waves of COVID-19, it is important to identify practical approaches that are evidence based and implementable in the real world to optimize the use of resources and improve outcomes. Although these are important all over the world, they are crucial in low- and middle-income countries, where resources are scarce.
