Changes in evidence for studies assessing interventions for COVID-19 reported in preprints: meta-research study

Table 1 Characteristics of 556 studies assessing interventions for COVID-19 prevention, treatment or rehabilitation

Characteristics	n = 556
Intervention (%)^a
Social distancing, lockdown, or travel restrictions	90 (17)
Antimalarials	76 (14)
Monoclonal antibodies	52 (10)
Corticosteroids	37 (7)
Other^b	288 (53)
Country of affiliation for the corresponding author (%)
China	144 (26)
USA	135 (24)
Italy	39 (7)
France	32 (6)
UK	26 (5)
Other^c	180 (32)
Data sharing (%)
Data will be shared upon request to the authors	186 (33)
Publicly available dataset	108 (19)
No data sharing	62 (11)
Unclear or unreported	200 (36)
Has a peer-reviewed evidence source (%)	284 (51)
Evidence source (%)
Preprint	272 (49)
Journal article	218 (39)
Preprint plus journal article	66 (12)
Status of studies initially published as preprints	n = 338
Published in a journal (%)	66 (20)
Accepted for publication (%)	2 (0)
Unpublished, submitted to a journal	107 (32)
Unpublished, will be submitted to a journal	9 (3)
Unpublished, will not be submitted to a journal	5 (1)
Unpublished, unknown status (no response from authors)	149 (44)

^aMay not add up to 100% because of rounding
^bOther interventions include health care organization, respiratory support, combination antivirals, antiretrovirals, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin II receptor blocker, convalescent plasma, personal protective equipment, non-specific antiviral, broad-spectrum antiviral, anticoagulant, gas inhalation, advanced therapy medicinal products, organ support, population testing, antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, respiratory stimulants, antiparasitic, immunosuppressants, kinase inhibitors, radiation, rehabilitation calcium channel blockers, and vaccination
^cOther countries include Abu Dhabi, Albania, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hong-Kong, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam. All < 4% of total sample

ISSN: 1741-7015