Cohort profile: investigating SARS-CoV-2 infection and the health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Canadian CHILD Cohort

Rilwan Azeez; Larisa Lotoski; Aimée Dubeau; Natalie Rodriguez; Myrtha E Reyna; Tyler Freitas; Stephanie Goguen; Maria Medeleanu; Geoffrey L Winsor; Fiona S L Brinkman; Emily E Cameron; Leslie Roos; Elinor Simons; Theo J Moraes; Piush J Mandhane; Stuart E Turvey; Shelly Bolotin; Kim Wright; Deborah McNeil; David M Patrick; Jared Bullard; Marc-André Langlois; Corey R Arnold; Yannick Galipeau; Martin Pelchat; Natasha Doucas; Padmaja Subbarao; Meghan B Azad

doi:10.4178/epih.e2023091

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. Epub 2023 Oct 13.

Authors

Rilwan Azeez^{1

2}, Larisa Lotoski^{2

3}, Aimée Dubeau^{4

5}, Natalie Rodriguez^{2

3}, Myrtha E Reyna⁴, Tyler Freitas⁵, Stephanie Goguen^{2

3}, Maria Medeleanu⁴, Geoffrey L Winsor⁶, Fiona S L Brinkman⁶, Emily E Cameron⁷, Leslie Roos^{2

7}, Elinor Simons^{2

3}, Theo J Moraes⁴, Piush J Mandhane⁸, Stuart E Turvey⁹, Shelly Bolotin¹⁰, Kim Wright⁵, Deborah McNeil^{11

12}, David M Patrick^{13

14}, Jared Bullard^{2

15}, Marc-André Langlois¹⁶, Corey R Arnold¹⁶, Yannick Galipeau¹⁶, Martin Pelchat¹⁶, Natasha Doucas¹⁷, Padmaja Subbarao^{4

5}, Meghan B Azad^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
² Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
³ Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁴ Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Program in Translational Medicine, SickKids Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁰ Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases, University of Toronto; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto; Public Health Ontario, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
¹² Strategic Clinical Networks, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, AB, Canada.
¹³ School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁴ British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁵ Cadham Provincial Laboratory, Manitoba Health, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
¹⁶ Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
¹⁷ CHILD Cohort Study National Parent Engagement Committee.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected all Canadian families, with some impacted differently than others. Our study aims to: (1) determine the prevalence and transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among Canadian families, (2) identify predictors of infection susceptibility and severity of SARS-CoV-2, and (3) identify health and psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study builds upon the CHILD Cohort Study, an ongoing multi-ethnic general population prospective cohort consisting of 3,454 Canadian families with children born in Vancouver, Edmonton, Manitoba, and Toronto between 2009 and 2012. During the pandemic, CHILD households were invited to participate in the CHILD COVID-19 Add-On Study involving: (1) brief biweekly surveys about COVID-19 symptoms and testing; (2) quarterly questionnaires assessing COVID-19 exposure and testing, vaccination status, physical and mental health, and pandemic-driven life changes; and (3) in-home biological sampling kits to collect blood and stool. In total, 1,462 households (5,378 participants) consented to the CHILD COVID-19 Add-On Study: 2,803 children (mean±standard deviation [SD], 9.0±2.7 years; range, 0-17 years) and 2,576 adults (mean±SD, 43.0±6.5 years; range, 18-85 years). We will leverage the wealth of pre-pandemic CHILD data to identify risk and resilience factors for susceptibility and severity to the direct and indirect pandemic effects. Our short-term findings will inform key stakeholders and knowledge users to shape current and future pandemic responses. Additionally, this study provides a unique resource to study the long-term impacts of the pandemic as the CHILD Cohort Study continues.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cohort studies; Epidemiology; Immunology; Pediatrics; SARS-CoV-2.

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / psychology
Canada / epidemiology
Cohort Studies
Humans
Pandemics
Prospective Studies
Psychological Distress*
SARS-CoV-2