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. 2024 Feb 28;8(Suppl 1):e10410.
doi: 10.1002/lrh2.10410. eCollection 2024 Jun.

Wonderings to research questions: Engaging patients in long COVID research prioritization within a learning health system

Ann Blair Kennedy  1   2   3 , Ariana Mitcham  3   4 , Katherine Parris  3 , Faith Albertson  4   5   6 , Luis Sanchez Ferrer  1   3 , Conor O'Boyle  1   3 , Maushmi K Patel  3   4 , Tracey Gartner  1   3 , Amy M Broomer  3 , Evan Katzman  3 , Jeanette Coffin  3 , Jennifer T Grier  1 , Nabil Natafgi  3   4
Affiliations

Wonderings to research questions: Engaging patients in long COVID research prioritization within a learning health system

Ann Blair Kennedy et al. Learn Health Syst. .

Abstract

Background: An integral component of research within a learning health system is patient engagement at all stages of the research process. While there are well-defined best practices for engaging with patients on predetermined research questions, there is little specific methodology for engaging patients at the stage of research question formation and prioritization. Further, with an emerging disease such as Long COVID, population-specific strategies for meaningful engagement have not been characterized.

Methods: The COVID-19 Focused Virtual Patient Engagement Studio (CoVIP studio) was a virtual panel created to facilitate patient-centered studies surrounding the effects of long-term COVID ("Long COVID") also known as post-acute SARS-CoV-2 syndrome (PASC). A diverse group of panelists was recruited and trained in several different areas of knowledge, competencies, and abilities regarding research and Long COVID. A three-step approach was developed that consisted of recording panelists' broad wonderings to generate patient-specific research questions.

Results: The "wonderings" discussed in panelists' training sessions were analyzed to identify specific populations, interventions, comparators, outcomes, and timeframes (PICOT) elements, which were then used to create a survey to identify the elements of greatest importance to the panel. Based on the findings, 10 research questions were formulated using the PICOT format. The panelists then ranked the questions on perceived order of importance and distributed one million fictional grant dollars between the five chosen questions in the second survey. Through this stepwise prioritization process, the project team successfully translated panelists' research wonderings into investigable research questions.

Conclusion: This methodology has implications for the advancement of patient-engaged prioritization both within the scope of Long COVID research and in research on other rare or emerging diseases.

Keywords: learning health system; patient engagement; patient participation; post‐acute COVID‐19 syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ann Blair Kennedy and Nabil Natafgi have been funded jointly by PCORI for one additional Engagement Award from 2020 to 2021. Ann Blair Kennedy, Nabil Natafgi, Katherine Parris, and Evan Katzman are members of AcademyHealth. No other authors report any conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Geographical location of CoVIP panelists, each darker gray state represents the location of at least one of the panelists.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Graphic description of the flow of the research prioritization process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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