CoRe study: COVID-19 and remdesivir: An insight into the current health planning and policy

INTRODUCTION: The ongoing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has witnessed rampant use of the repurposed drug, remdesivir, despite its conflicting evidence and rapidly changing guidelines. METHODS: A cross-sectional, country-wide, questionnaire-based, electronic survey was conducted among the healthcare professionals involved in COVID-19 management from April 18 to May 18, 2021. RESULTS: Out of 231 responses, 185 were included. Significantly, greater knowledge of trials was reported by the frontline healthcare professionals compared to those who are not involved in COVID-19 care. Medicine practitioners and pulmonologists expressed greater willingness to continue remdesivir (Odds ratio (OR) 5.329, 95% Confidence interval (CI) 2.31–12.291 and 5.063, 95% CI 1.414–18.129, respectively). The rationale attributed was personal experience, current guidelines, non-availability of any alternate antiviral drug, expert recommendations, and local hospital policy either alone (20%, 8.1%, 5.9%, 2.7%, and 2.2%, respectively) or in combination (46.5%, 39.5%, 29.2%, 21.1%, and 15.7%, respectively). Awareness of evidence and knowledge of landmark studies made no statistically significant impact on clinical decision-making. Improved clinical outcomes were reported by 10/22 (45.4%) practitioners who used remdesivir for unconventional indications. CONCLUSION: The study throws critical insights into the current perspectives of doctors on remdesivir in clinical management and its potential impact on current health planning strategies.