Challenges for the practice of evidence-based medicine during COVID-19 pandemic (practice of evidence-based medicine in the new normal)

The forces which had kept the evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement alive and ongoing have altered significantly during this coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. There has been discrepancy in the demand and availability of scientific evidence. Deaths of thousands of people including physicians and other health-care workers (while offering COVID-19 care) across the globe have shaken the confidence of the physicians towards the practice of EBM. Journals started publishing in a hurry, incomplete and at times misleading scientific articles, about COVID-19, leaving the physicians in a dilemma about the evidence. The practitioner of EBM has had to turn helplessly to non-documentary evidences to treat COVID-19 patients. Apart from the evidence becoming hyperdynamic and volatile along with a reduction in its quality, the environment got polluted by political interference. In a nutshell, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the practice of EBM and its acceptance in multiple ways.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the practice and acceptance of evidence-based medicine, leaving physicians confused and challenged in terms of evidence demand and reliability.