EFAS/EAN survey on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on European clinical autonomic education and research

Alessandra Fanciulli; Magdalena Krbot Skorić; Fabian Leys; Diogo Reis Carneiro; Nicole Campese; Giovanna Calandra-Buonaura; Jennifer Camaradou; Giacomo Chiaro; Pietro Cortelli; Cristian Falup-Pecurariu; Roberta Granata; Pietro Guaraldi; Raimund Helbok; Max J Hilz; Valeria Iodice; Jens Jordan; Evert C A Kaal; Anita Kamondi; Anne Pavy Le Traon; Isabel Rocha; Johann Sellner; Jean Michel Senard; Astrid Terkelsen; Gregor K Wenning; Elena Moro; Thomas Berger; Roland D Thijs; Walter Struhal; Mario Habek; Collaborators of European Network of Neurological Autonomic Laboratories

doi:10.1007/s10286-023-00985-3

EFAS/EAN survey on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on European clinical autonomic education and research

Clin Auton Res. 2023 Dec;33(6):777-790. doi: 10.1007/s10286-023-00985-3. Epub 2023 Oct 4.

Authors

Alessandra Fanciulli¹, Magdalena Krbot Skorić^{2

3}, Fabian Leys⁴, Diogo Reis Carneiro^{5

6}, Nicole Campese⁴, Giovanna Calandra-Buonaura^{7

8}, Jennifer Camaradou^{9

10}, Giacomo Chiaro^{11

12}, Pietro Cortelli^{7

8}, Cristian Falup-Pecurariu¹³, Roberta Granata⁴, Pietro Guaraldi⁷, Raimund Helbok^{4

14}, Max J Hilz^{15

16}, Valeria Iodice^{11

12}, Jens Jordan^{17

18}, Evert C A Kaal¹⁹, Anita Kamondi^{20

21}, Anne Pavy Le Traon²², Isabel Rocha²³, Johann Sellner^{24

25}, Jean Michel Senard²⁶, Astrid Terkelsen²⁷, Gregor K Wenning⁴, Elena Moro²⁸, Thomas Berger^{29

30}, Roland D Thijs^{31

32}, Walter Struhal³³, Mario Habek^{2

34}; Collaborators of European Network of Neurological Autonomic Laboratories

Collaborators

Collaborators of European Network of Neurological Autonomic Laboratories:
Ivan Adamec, Arnaud Aerts, Leo L R Canta, Robert Shane Delamont, Frederik de Lange, Francesca Del Sorbo, Grazia Devigili, Rita Di Leo, Trang Dinh, Jacques-Olivier Fortrat, Janne Gierthmühlen, Martin Hemels, Julia Köhn, Thomas Krøigård, Axel Lipp, Andrea Maier, Lucio Marinelli, Anna Mazzeo, Ivan Milenkovic, Maciej Motyl, Maria Grazia Natali Sora, Judith Navarro-Otano, Kristian Bernhard Nilsen, Mario Oliveira, Petter Moe Omland, Giuseppe Pelliccioni, Yann Pereon, Roland Josef Resch, Camilla Rocchi, Frederic Roche, Joost Rutten, Beatriz Tijero-Merino, Marcin Tutaj, A M H G van der Heijden-Montfroy, Bas J A van Hoeve, Narender van Orshoven, Ruihao Wang, Werner J Z'Graggen

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria. [email protected].
² Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre, Zagreb, Croatia.
³ Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
⁶ Neurology Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
⁷ IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
⁸ Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
⁹ Patient Partner of the EAN Scientific Panel for Autonomic Nervous System Disorders, London, UK.
¹⁰ Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
¹¹ Autonomic Unit, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK.
¹² UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
¹³ Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Transilvania University, Brasov, Romania.
¹⁴ Department of Neurology, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria.
¹⁵ Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Neurology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
¹⁷ German Aerospace Center, Cologne, Germany.
¹⁸ Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
¹⁹ Department of Neurology, Maasstad Ziekenhuis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
²⁰ Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Budapest, Hungary.
²¹ Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
²² Department of Neurology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
²³ Cardiovascular Autonomic Function Lab, Faculty of Medicine and CCUL, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
²⁴ Landesklinikum Mistelbach-Gänserndorf, Mistelbach, Austria.
²⁵ Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
²⁶ Institut des Maladies Métaboliques et Cardiovasculaires, INSERM U 1297, Toulouse, France.
²⁷ Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital and Danish Pain Research Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
²⁸ Division of Neurology, Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, Grenoble Alpes University, CHU of Grenoble, Grenoble, France.
²⁹ Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
³⁰ Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
³¹ Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.
³² Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN), Heemstede, The Netherlands.
³³ Department of Neurology, University Hospital Tulln, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Tulln, Austria.
³⁴ Department of Neurology, University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.

Abstract

Purpose: To understand the influence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on clinical autonomic education and research in Europe.

Methods: We invited 84 European autonomic centers to complete an online survey, recorded the pre-pandemic-to-pandemic percentage of junior participants in the annual congresses of the European Federation of Autonomic Societies (EFAS) and European Academy of Neurology (EAN) and the pre-pandemic-to-pandemic number of PubMed publications on neurological disorders.

Results: Forty-six centers answered the survey (55%). Twenty-nine centers were involved in clinical autonomic education and experienced pandemic-related didactic interruptions for 9 (5; 9) months. Ninety percent (n = 26/29) of autonomic educational centers reported a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education quality, and 93% (n = 27/29) established e-learning models. Both the 2020 joint EAN-EFAS virtual congress and the 2021 (virtual) and 2022 (hybrid) EFAS and EAN congresses marked higher percentages of junior participants than in 2019. Forty-one respondents (89%) were autonomic researchers, and 29 of them reported pandemic-related trial interruptions for 5 (2; 9) months. Since the pandemic begin, almost half of the respondents had less time for scientific writing. Likewise, the number of PubMed publications on autonomic topics showed the smallest increase compared with other neurological fields in 2020-2021 and the highest drop in 2022. Autonomic research centers that amended their trial protocols for telemedicine (38%, n = 16/41) maintained higher clinical caseloads during the first pandemic year.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial negative impact on European clinical autonomic education and research. At the same time, it promoted digitalization, favoring more equitable access to autonomic education and improved trial design.

Keywords: Autonomic nervous system; COVID-19 pandemic; Clinical autonomic education; Clinical autonomic research; Telemedicine; e-Learning.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Europe / epidemiology
Humans
Nervous System Diseases*
Pandemics
Surveys and Questionnaires