How a Psychopharmacology Clinical Trial Site in the Seattle Area Managed Clinical Trials and Patient Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: The American journal of geriatric psychiatry 2020-09, Vol.28 (9), p.999-1003
• Main Authors: Schilling, Shirin, Mohanarajah, Sinthuja, Mengstu, Abraham, Khan, Arif, Brown, Walter A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Betacoronavirus; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S; Clinical Trials; Clinical Trials as Topic - methods; Coronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronavirus Infections - therapy; COVID-19; Dementia; Female; Geriatric psychology; Humans; Male; Medical ethics; Middle Aged; Oximetry; Pandemics - prevention & control; Patient Care - methods; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - therapy; Psychopharmacology; Psychopharmacology - methods; Pulse oximeter; SARS-CoV-2; United States; Washington; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1064-7481; 1545-7214
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2020.06.012

•As the COVID 19 pandemic developed rapidly in early March 2020 in the greater Seattle area, our clinical trial site faced a number of clinical and ethical dilemmas in how to safely maintain services to our high-risk research patient population including geriatric patients, staff, and visitors.•We have developed evolving screening procedures for symptoms related to COVID 19 and restructured our center to remain operational to see our clinical trial patients. Patients and staff have been able to adapt.•We have been able to maintain clinical trial research during the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic but further follow up is required to fully assess the effects of the pandemic to clinical trial sites and participants. As the COVID-19 pandemic developed in March 2020 in greater Seattle, our clinical trial site faced several ethical and clinical dilemmas. We remained open to research patients including high-risk elderly patients and adapted to changing health recommendations. Beginning March 14, 2020 we developed an in-person evaluation for potential risk of COVID-19. Included are the first 3 weeks of screening by our physicians for potential exposure to COVID-19, common symptoms, temperature, blood oxygen saturation, and heart rate. Individuals with higher risk (n = 23) were identified and managed. The 825 evaluations included 37 staff, 167 patients, and 152 visitors. No one needed isolation or transfer to acute care facility, staff attendance was 95%, all 33 geriatric patients continued in phase II trials, and others decreased by 5%. We share how we incorporated COVID-19 Center for Disease Control health recommendations to a clinical trial center and addition of pulse oximetry.