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.