A Concept for Conducting Scientific Studies in Vehicles and Stationary Test Rooms during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic affected many areas of public life and industry. This also applies to research particularly that relies on scientific studies with test persons. In order to minimize the risk of infection, several aspects of experiment design including the setting might require alteration. An extensive review of the latest research involving the COVID-19 pandemic as a blueprint for dealing with other health situations has been conducted in order to develop a step-by-step approach to plan a study with regard to infection protection. As a result, a generic six-step concept was developed that is applicable for scientific studies in both stationary rooms and vehicles while being adaptable to the respective circumstances. The infection protection measures determined through research were implemented in the individual sub-steps from study planning to execution. They allow a step-by-step approach to prevent infections in scientific studies with different settings during a pandemic and in situations where increased hygiene measures are required.