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Open research questions in COVID-19 and healthcare impacts

76 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,614 COVID-19 and healthcare impacts papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Future work should explore how dashboards can be designed to accommodate this variability, through user-centred design approaches, layered interfaces, or adaptive features that allow users to engage with information at different levels of complexity. Future work could address this limitation by capturing and archiving dashboard content to enable more rigorous qualitative coding and longitudinal analysis. in techniques visualization for Finally, future research should investigate how uncertainty visualizations can be effectively designed for public health research have applications. Understanding how to adapt these approaches to geospatial and epidemiological data, while maintaining usability and reducing cognitive load, remains an open challenge.

    Uncertainty displays in pandemic dashboards: a review of COVID-19 use cases · 2026 · DOI

  • Although many countries have reported higher numbers of male COVID-19 deaths, the evolution of sex differences in mortality over the course of the pandemic, and how these differences compare using both relative (accounting for higher male baseline mortality) and absolute measures remains underexplored.

    Sex differences in excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal ecological analysis of 34 high-income countries · 2026 · DOI

  • However, there is limited information on the socioeconomic dimension of COVID-19-related health impacts from nationally representative large datasets using an integrated approach.

    A state wise analysis of the socioeconomic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in India: lessons for future health system preparedness · 2026 · DOI

  • Romanian county Public Health Directorates (PHDs) were central to local COVID-19 crisis management, yet subnational differences in institutional response capacity remain insufficiently quantified.

    Institutional Determinants of Public Health Directorate Capacity During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Comparative Analysis of Romanian Counties · 2026 · DOI

  • First, we did not include COVID-positive patients with hip fractures who were managed nonoperatively, accounting for 9.3%. Although including these patients would likely affect this study’s mortality rate, our aim was to evaluate outcomes for patients who underwent operative treatment for their hip fractures. Second, we did not stratify patients by severity of COVID-19 infection. Given that severity of COVID-19 symptoms is impacted by vacci- 0.8 1.17 (0.65–2.09) 0.6 For abbreviations, see Table 1 and CI = 95% confidence interval. Table 4. Risk of venous thromboembolic (VTE) event within 90 days of surgery for patients undergoing surgical treatment of hip fracture.

    Vaccination is associated with reduced mortality rates after surgery for hip fractures in the setting of recent COVID-19 infection: an observational study from the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Database · 2026 · DOI

  • Few studies met the inclusion criteria, and heterogene- ity in periods, settings, and outcomes precluded meta- analysis and limited external validity. The variability in study periods limits the conclusive statements regarding the impact of non-pharmaceutical intervention. Many studies had a high risk of bias due to insufficient control for confounders, limited statistical reporting, or lack of group comparisons. Moreover, the focus on 2020–2021 excludes later pandemic phases and long-term impacts. These limitations reflect the German evidence available at the time of our searches (cancer January–February 2024; CVD May 2024) and could not be influenced by this review, highlighting the need for future studies with more complete outcome data.

    Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diagnosis, and healthcare utilization, among patients with cancer (lung, breast, and pancreas) and cardiovascular diseases (HF, AF, hypertensive, and chronic ischemic heart disease) in Germany: two systematic reviews · 2026 · DOI

  • Further specific residency-based MATCH data from the USA and equivalent sources around the world needs to be investigated to understand the underlying trends and to guide future policymaking for post-graduate dental specialty training especially as it relates to specific factors such as job market, perceived quality of education, economic and geopolitical factors.

    Impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on Dental Match residency applicant statistics in the United States of America: a cross sectional analysis · 2025 · DOI

  • Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis.

    Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 · 2024 · DOI

  • As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology.

    Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 · 2024 · DOI

  • The paper does not provide empirical validation or clinical trial data demonstrating that active biological antibodies can effectively kill COVID-19 and HIV in human patients.

    COVID-19, AIDS, CANCER formation mechanism and treatment plan · 2023 · DOI

  • The exposure to risks associated with COVID-19 differs by country, but the factors explaining the cross-national variations are not fully understood, while the analyses of incidence, mortality and fatality by gender and age cover a handful of countries, Romanian not included.

    Covid 19 in Romania: assessing prevalence, mortality and fatality by age and gender in the first 32 weeks of the pandemic · 2022 · DOI

  • While considerable attention has been paid to the impact of Covid-19 on mortality and fertility, few studies have attempted to evaluate the pandemic's effect on international migration.

    The impact of Covid-19 on demographic components in Spain, 2020–31: A scenario approach · 2022 · DOI

  • Research limitations/implications: A lack of scientific study with long-term data, a survey on a small group of respondents, studies from countries with different degrees of development (a more difficult comparative analysis), discrepancy of data in some studies due to insufficient research on the new virus – SARS-CoV-2.

    Functioning of Health Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Review of Literature · 2021 · DOI

  • Studies summarising COVID-19 mitigation strategies designed and implemented by radiotherapy centres in LMICs to avoid delays, deferrments and interruptions of radiotherapy services are lacking.

    Novel coronavirus mitigation measures implemented by radiotherapy centres in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review · 2021 · DOI

  • It should also be noted that the analysis of the publishing activity of only top-10 (by h-index) scientists is more likely not to give a complete bibliometric and scientometric picture of the changes taking place, so further research is needed, which would cover a longer period of time and include more scientists.

    Scientometric Dimensions of Epidemic: Part Three. Features of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ukraine · 2021 · DOI

  • The decline in marriage and divorce was evident prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but it remains unknown whether these patterns have persisted during the pandemic.

    Marriage and Divorce Decline during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Five States · 2021 · DOI

  • 2 Official statistics, however, do not always paint the real picture: Tests are in short supply, and efforts to screen the population for COVID-19 are insufficient.

    Latin America After COVID-19: What's Next? · 2021 · DOI

  • In England, official statistics suggest that at least 25% of all deaths in care home residents since the start of pandemic are linked to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but limited testing for SARS-CoV-2 early in the pandemic means estimates of the true burden of disease are lacking.

    Study Protocol: Understanding SARS-Cov-2 infection, immunity and its duration in care home residents and staff in England (VIVALDI) · 2020 · DOI

  • 20, 21 Although dietary risk factors for COVID-19 are not understood, frequent intake of fruits and vegetables protects against influenza-like illnesses,22 and regular and moderate exercise protects against influenza-related cardiorespiratory mortality.

    Being African American and Rural: A Double Jeopardy From COVID‐19 · 2020 · DOI

  • 2 While the body of knowledge around the virus and the disease it causes grows on a daily basis, relatively little is known about the course of COVID-19 in children and young people (CYP; defined here as those under the age of 16 years).

    Where have all the children gone? Decreases in paediatric emergency department attendances at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 · 2020 · DOI

  • Third, because the COVID-19 epidemic causes a far higher need for hospital services among older than younger population groups, we focus on physical access to healthcare for the population aged 60 years and older, which is a population group that is rarely studied in investigations of healthcare demand and supply in the region.

    A review of measures of quality of life for children with chronic illness · 2001 · DOI

  • There is limited evidence regarding the optimal timing of COVID-19 vaccination (i.

    COVID-19 vaccination timing, relative to acute COVID-19, and subsequent risk of long COVID · 2026 · DOI

  • Spain has the highest number of cases in the European Union/European Economic Area, but the clinical and hospitalization burdens remain poorly characterized.

    Q fever in Spain: epidemiology and demographic characteristics of hospitalized patients (2016-2023) · 2026 · DOI

  • Despite the overall decline, the stabilisation of AAMRs in the last decade suggests a plateau in progress, necessitating further investigation into the underlying factors.

    Fatal inflammation: understanding meningitis mortality in the United States (1999–2020) · 2026 · DOI

  • Little is known about whether inequalities in severe disease and deaths, observed globally among minoritised ethnic groups, relates to greater infection risk, poorer prognosis, or both.

    Ethnic inequalities in COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation, intensive care admission, and death: a global systematic review and meta-analysis of over 200 million study participants · 2023 · DOI

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76 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,614 COVID-19 and healthcare impacts papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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