Development of at-home sample collection logistics for large-scale seroprevalence studies.

<h4>Background</h4>Serological studies rely on the recruitment of representative cohorts; however, such efforts are specially complicated by the conditions surrounding the COVID19 pandemic.<h4>Methods</h4>We aimed to design and implement a fully remote methodology for conduct...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aishani V Aatresh, Kate Cummings, Hilary Gerstein, Christopher S Knight, Andreas Limberopolous, Megan A Stasi, Alice Bedugnis, Kenneth A Somberg, Camila T França, Michael J Mina
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Subjects:
R
Q
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/f5ef2104cf83464b924d96e27066eac0
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Summary:<h4>Background</h4>Serological studies rely on the recruitment of representative cohorts; however, such efforts are specially complicated by the conditions surrounding the COVID19 pandemic.<h4>Methods</h4>We aimed to design and implement a fully remote methodology for conducting safe serological surveys that also allow for the engagement of representative study populations.<h4>Results</h4>This design was well-received and effective. 2,066 participants ≥18 years old were enrolled, reflecting the ethnic and racial composition of Massachusetts. >70% of them reported being satisfied/extremely satisfied with the online enrollment and at-home self-collection of blood samples. While 18.6% reported some discomfort experienced with the collection process, 72.2% stated that they would be willing to test weekly if enrolled in a long-term study.<h4>Conclusions</h4>High engagement and positive feedback from participants, as well as the quality of self-collected specimens, point to the usefulness of this fully remote, self-collection-based study design for future safer and efficient population-level serological surveys.