tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
BMC Med Res Methodol
. 2024 May 27;24(1):120.
doi: 10.1186/s12874-024-02245-y. CalScope: methodology and lessons learned for conducting a remote statewide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study in California using an at-home dried blood spot collection kit and online survey
Esther Lim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Megha L Mehrotra[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Katherine Lamba[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Amanda Kamali[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Kristina W Lai[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Erika Meza[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Stephanie Bertsch-Merbach[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Irvin Szeto[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Catherine Ley[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Andrew B Martin[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Julie Parsonnet[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Peter Robinson[SUP] 5 [/SUP], David Gebhart[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Noemi Fonseca[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Cheng-Ting Tsai[SUP] 5 [/SUP], David Seftel[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Allyx Nicolici[SUP] 2 [/SUP], David Melton[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Seema Jain[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Background: To describe the methodology for conducting the CalScope study, a remote, population-based survey launched by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and understand COVID-19 disease burden in California.
Methods: Between April 2021 and August 2022, 666,857 randomly selected households were invited by mail to complete an online survey and at-home test kit for up to one adult and one child. A gift card was given for each completed survey and test kit. Multiple customized REDCap databases were used to create a data system which provided task automation and scalable data management through API integrations. Support infrastructure was developed to manage follow-up for participant questions and a communications plan was used for outreach through local partners.
Results: Across 3 waves, 32,671 out of 666,857 (4.9%) households registered, 6.3% by phone using an interactive voice response (IVR) system and 95.7% in English. Overall, 25,488 (78.0%) households completed surveys, while 23,396 (71.6%) households returned blood samples for testing. Support requests (n = 5,807) received through the web-based form (36.3%), by email (34.1%), and voicemail (29.7%) were mostly concerned with the test kit (31.6%), test result (26.8%), and gift card (21.3%).
Conclusions: Ensuring a well-integrated and scalable data system, responsive support infrastructure for participant follow-up, and appropriate academic and local health department partnerships for study management and communication allowed for successful rollout of a large population-based survey. Remote data collection utilizing online surveys and at-home test kits can complement routine surveillance data for a state health department.
Keywords: At home testing; Health Department; Population-based surveillance; Remote; SARS-CoV-2.
. 2024 May 27;24(1):120.
doi: 10.1186/s12874-024-02245-y. CalScope: methodology and lessons learned for conducting a remote statewide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study in California using an at-home dried blood spot collection kit and online survey
Esther Lim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Megha L Mehrotra[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Katherine Lamba[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Amanda Kamali[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Kristina W Lai[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Erika Meza[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Stephanie Bertsch-Merbach[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Irvin Szeto[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Catherine Ley[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Andrew B Martin[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Julie Parsonnet[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Peter Robinson[SUP] 5 [/SUP], David Gebhart[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Noemi Fonseca[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Cheng-Ting Tsai[SUP] 5 [/SUP], David Seftel[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Allyx Nicolici[SUP] 2 [/SUP], David Melton[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Seema Jain[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 38802749
- DOI: 10.1186/s12874-024-02245-y
Background: To describe the methodology for conducting the CalScope study, a remote, population-based survey launched by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and understand COVID-19 disease burden in California.
Methods: Between April 2021 and August 2022, 666,857 randomly selected households were invited by mail to complete an online survey and at-home test kit for up to one adult and one child. A gift card was given for each completed survey and test kit. Multiple customized REDCap databases were used to create a data system which provided task automation and scalable data management through API integrations. Support infrastructure was developed to manage follow-up for participant questions and a communications plan was used for outreach through local partners.
Results: Across 3 waves, 32,671 out of 666,857 (4.9%) households registered, 6.3% by phone using an interactive voice response (IVR) system and 95.7% in English. Overall, 25,488 (78.0%) households completed surveys, while 23,396 (71.6%) households returned blood samples for testing. Support requests (n = 5,807) received through the web-based form (36.3%), by email (34.1%), and voicemail (29.7%) were mostly concerned with the test kit (31.6%), test result (26.8%), and gift card (21.3%).
Conclusions: Ensuring a well-integrated and scalable data system, responsive support infrastructure for participant follow-up, and appropriate academic and local health department partnerships for study management and communication allowed for successful rollout of a large population-based survey. Remote data collection utilizing online surveys and at-home test kits can complement routine surveillance data for a state health department.
Keywords: At home testing; Health Department; Population-based surveillance; Remote; SARS-CoV-2.