Objectives: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral illness with public health importance. The Cabarrus County COVID-19 Prevalence and Immunity (C3PI) Study is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study designed to contribute valuable information on community prevalence of active COVID-19 infection and SARS-CoV-2 antibodies as the pandemic and responses to it have and continue to evolve. We present the rationale, study design, and baseline characteristics of the C3PI Study.
Methods: We recruited 1,426 participants between June 2020 and August 2020 from the Measurement to Understand the Reclassification of Disease of Cabarrus/Kannapolis (MURDOCK) Study Community Registry and Biorepository, a previously established, community-based, longitudinal cohort. Participants completed a baseline survey and follow-up surveys every two weeks. A nested weighted, random sub-cohort (n=300) was recruited to measure the incidence and prevalence of active COVID-19 infection and SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies.
Results: The sub-cohort was younger (56 vs 61 years), had more men (39.0% vs 30.9%), and a higher proportion of Hispanic (11.0% vs 5.1%) and Black participants (17.0% vs 8.2%) compared with the overall cohort. They had similar anthropometrics and medical histories, but a greater proportion of the sub-cohort had a higher educational degree (36.1% vs 31.3%) and reported a pre-pandemic annual household income of >$90,000 (57.1% vs 47.9%).
Conclusion: This study is part of a multisite consortium that will provide critical data on the epidemiology of COVID-19 and community perspectives about the pandemic, behaviors and mitigation strategies, and individual and community burden in North Carolina.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; methods; study design.
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