HOW TO READ DATA

This section will help you understand how to properly read the data presented in this visualizer and provide additional information about the data processing and source.

The data used for this visualizer is based on raw data collected solely from www.clinicaltrials.gov database. Some of the registration data element groups used are Study Identification, Study Status, Study Description, Study Design, Interventions, etc. Graphs and their numerical outputs are the results of processing and combining the raw data collected through these groups.

Impact of COVID-19 on Clinical Trials Visualized is a free, web-hosted app that allows you to easily explore and compare the number of COVID-19-related clinical trials and non-COVID-19-related clinical trials across countries through 4 trial dimensions: status, phase, intervention type, and primary disease.

The heat map is the first graph you encounter. The heat map offers you general oversight of each country's COVID-19-related and non-related clinical trial numbers. It also serves as an input source for the 4 graphs below. Once you click on a country, the 4 graphs below update to reflect the data related to the selected country. The country selection can also be made through the "Selected country" dropdown menu. When hovering over, every country will display its name and the number of selected variable.

Below the heat map, the first two graphs you see are the status sunburst charts. The two charts refer to the pre-COVID-19 period (2015-2019) and the COVID-19 period (2020-2022). This way, you can easily compare the two periods and explore how the trials’ status distribution was affected. Going from the center outward, you explore the data further.

The second two graphs you see below the heat map are the phase sunburst charts. As before, the two charts refer to the pre-COVID-19 period (2015-2019) and the COVID-19 period (2020-2022). This way, you can easily compare the two periods and explore how the trials’ phase distribution was affected. Going from the center outward, you explore the data further.

The third graph you see below the heat map is the intervention-type bar chart. Here, every year is represented by two data bars – 1st for the number and intervention distribution of COVID-19-related trials and 2nd for the number and intervention distribution of non-COVID-19-related trials. This data is available for any selected country or worldwide from 2015-2022.

The fourth graph you see below the heat map is the primary disease bar chart. Again, every year is represented by two data bars – 1st for the number and primary disease distribution of COVID-19-related trials and 2nd for the number and primary disease distribution of non-COVID-19-related trials. This data is available for any selected country or worldwide from 2015-2022.

In this visualizer, we present several hypotheses and findings that specifically address global trends in clinical trials, rather than focusing on individual country trends. It is important to note that the information contained within the Hypotheses and Findings sections is based on static text fields and is not dynamically updated. This analysis aims to provide an overview of the worldwide shifts in clinical trial distribution and activity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. By examining these global patterns, we can gain insights into the broader implications of the pandemic on the research and development of medical treatments and interventions.