Conclusion
There is an increasing number of RCTs being planned to evaluate the clinical efficacy/effectiveness and safety of HQ or chloroquine in the treatment of patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Outcomes domains described in these clinical trials are highly heterogeneous and include clinical and/or surrogate measures. Moreover, despite HQ and chloroquine being known to induce cardiovascular and other adverse events that can be irreversible and potentially life-threatening, the registered RCTs do not describe systematic assessment methods to accurately detect adverse events. The pandemic scenario is demanding researchers to register, plan and deploy RCTs at an incredibly fast pace. The present analysis supports the need for improvements in the design of ongoing and future RCTs. Ultimately, finding safe and effective treatments is required to decrease the burden on patients, providers and health care systems worldwide created by patients diagnosed with COVID-19.