Why is this important and what is the need or knowledge gap?
Recent data highlights an ongoing convalescent COVID-19 mortality rate as high as 10% with ~20% of patients developing new or worsened cardiopulmonary symptoms within 60 days after hospital discharge. Standard of care for patients with COVID-19 must therefore be changed to improve longer-term clinical outcomes. It is unknown how to care for patients following hospitalisation for COVID-19 and the selection of optimal treatments should be guided by high-quality evidence on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
What are we doing and who is involved?
HCEC researchers contribute to the large UK HEAL-COVID trial which was awarded £3.6 million by the NIHR https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR133788.
We are leading the health economics contribution for this multi-centre trial (HEAL-COVID) led by the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital to set up a pragmatic, phase 3 adaptive clinical trial platform designed to provide reliable evidence on the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of post-hospitalisation treatments aiming to improve clinical outcomes for COVID-19 patients.
What will change as a result of the outputs?
The findings from this trial will make an international contribution to clinical practice in managing the long-term sequalae associated with COVID-19 infection. Most trials to date have focused on the acute treatment phase, particularly in hospital settings. This trial is one of the first to address important uncertainties in managing patients post-discharge where morbidity and mortality remains high. It is expected to result in evidence-based recommendations regarding the most effective and efficient interventions to guide standard of care and improve longer-term outcomes for people affected by COVID-19.
