This is a summary, written by members of the CITF Secretariat, of:

Azeez R, Lotoski L, Dubeau A, Rodriguez N, Reyna ME, Freitas T, Goguen S, Medeleanu M, Winsor GL, Brinkman FSL, Cameron EE, Roos L, Simons E, Moraes TJ, Mandhane PJ, Turvey SE, Bolotin S, Wright K, McNeil D, Patrick DM, Bullard J, Langlois MA, Arnold CR, Galipeau Y, Pelchat M, Doucas N, Subbarao P, Azad MB. Cohort profile: investigating SARS-CoV-2 infection and the health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Canadian CHILD Cohort. Epidemiol Health. 2023;45:e2023091. doi: 10.4178/epih.e2023091.

The results and/or conclusions contained in the research do not necessarily reflect the views of all CITF members.

The study design and cohort profile of a CITF-funded study have been published in Epidemiology and Health. The research aimed to examine the prevalence and predictors of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission, as well as the predictors of the health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, among Canadian children and their families. The study was led by Dr. Meghan Azad (University of Manitoba).

Key points:

  • Consenting families and assenting children already participating in an ongoing cohort study were part of the CHILD COVID-19 Add-On-Study, completing brief biweekly surveys about COVID-19 symptoms and testing, as well as quarterly questionnaires assessing COVID-19 exposure, vaccination status, and pandemic-driven life changes.
  • In-home blood collection was performed for SARS-CoV-2 IgG serology and biomarker analysis, and stool samples were taken for microbiome analysis.
  • Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was estimated from survey data and confirmed by serology testing.

The CHILD COVID-19 Add-On Study population included 5,378 participants from 1,462 households. There were 2,803 children with a mean age of 9 years (range 0-17) and 2,576 adults with a mean age of 43 years (range 18-85). Participants predominantly identified as having European ancestral origins (77%) and 68% of adults had a university degree.

The CHILD cohort study is a prospective longitudinal study of 3,454 families with children born in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario between 2009 to 2012. The researchers have adopted a knowledge translation approach and have plans to disseminate findings to stakeholders and knowledge users in an effort to inform public health decision making. In addition to traditional dissemination of results through open access publication in peer-reviewed journals, this study uses the website (childstudy.ca/covid-rapid-results) and social media (Twitter) to rapidly disseminate time-sensitive findings that are relevant to stakeholders and knowledge users, including provincial public health organizations and non-profit organizations (e.g., Children First Canada).