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.

Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 100968545 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1471-2288 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14712288 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Med Res Methodol Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2001-

COVID-19*/epidemiology ; COVID-19*/diagnosis ; SARS-CoV-2*/immunology ; Dried Blood Spot Testing*/methods ; Dried Blood Spot Testing*/statistics & numerical data; Humans ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; California/epidemiology ; Adult ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Male ; Female ; Child ; Middle Aged ; Adolescent

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.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)

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U01 CK000539 United States CK NCEZID CDC HHS; U01CK000539 United States ACL ACL HHS; UL1 TR001085 United States TR NCATS NIH HHS; 6NU50CK000539 United States CC CDC HHS

Keywords: At home testing; Health Department; Population-based surveillance; Remote; SARS-CoV-2

Date Created: 20240527 Date Completed: 20240527 Latest Revision: 20240530

20240530

PMC11131314

10.1186/s12874-024-02245-y

38802749