dbGaP Study Accession: phs002745
NIH Institute/Center: NIMHD
RADx Data Program: RADx-UP
Release Date: 12/07/2023
DOI: 10.60773/an3v-wq86
Study Description: In Puerto Rico (PR), the first COVID-19 case was confirmed early March 2020. To date, cases have exponentially increased partly due to the lifting of locked-down restriction by the PR government, limited COVID-19 testing, and contact tracing. Puerto Ricans living on the island are particularly vulnerable to the current overlapping of the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters (earthquake, hurricanes/storms). Limited access to molecular COVID-19 testing throughout PR has been a significant challenge. Without adequate testing, estimates for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection rates are limited and targeted prevention efforts (focused testing) may hinder. A group of epidemiologists led by Dr. Marzán (MPI) developed a web-based COVID-19 Epidemiologic Surveillance System (ESSS) in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Public Health Trust (PRPHT, community partner for this grant) with more than 46,000 surveys completed. The ESSS tool was an online geocoded survey that identified real-time data of COVID-19 signs and symptoms during the last 24 hours; and thus, prioritized communities for COVID-19 testing. Leveraging the current PHSU-PRI COVID-19 prevention efforts and the ESSS infrastructure, the research team tested the preliminary impact of an epidemic intelligence (EpI-Net) community-based intervention aimed at increasing COVID-19 testing uptake and prevention practices among socially vulnerable communities in PR. The working hypothesis was that the integration of lay community leaders, trained in the use of COVID-19 prevention technology tools (EpI-Net), resulted in increased COVID-19 testing uptake and prevention practices among the targeted socially and epidemiologically vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico. This highly innovative and impactful study shifted current COVID-19 prevention strategies by 1) establishing an epidemic intelligence infrastructure using a technology-based COVID-19 syndromic surveillance (ESSS) platform to identify in real time potential COVID-19 outbreaks and, thus, conduct targeted COVID-19 testing, 2) by implementing a population-based COVID-19 prevention intervention (EpI-Net) co-led by epidemiologists and lay community leaders trained as health promotors.
Updated Date: 04/17/2024
Principal Investigator: Rodriguez Marzan, Melissa
Has Data Files: Yes
Study Domain: Community Outreach Programs; Disease Surveillance; Testing Rate/Uptake; Virological Testing
Data Collection Method: Survey; Interview or Focus Group; Molecular (Nucleic Acid/PCR) Testing Device
Keywords: Epidemiologic Surveillance System
Study Design: Longitudinal Cohort
Multi-Center Study: FALSE
Data Types: Family History; Behavioral; Clinical; Psychological; Questionnaires/Surveys; Social; Immunological; Other
Data Types, Other: Blood samples from confirmed PCR positive COVID-19 participants to determine blood serum cytokines assessed by Multiplex analyses
Study Start Date: 11/01/2020
Study End Date: 10/31/2022
Species: Human Data
Estimated Cohort Size: 1800
Study Population Focus: Older Adults or Elderly; Lower Socioeconomic Status (SES) Population; Adults; Hispanic and Latino; Underserved/Vulnerable Population
Study Website URL: https://ctv.veeva.com/study/epidemiologic-intelligence-network-epi-net-to-promote-covid-19-testing
ClinicalTrials.gov URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04910542
Publication URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37264399/
Acknowledgement Statement: This study was supported through funding, 3R21MD013674-02S2, for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) as part of the RADx-UP program. We want to thank all the participants who were part of our study. We greatly appreciate the community leaders who were a part of each of our initiatives at EpI-NET. In addition, we appreciate the support and collaboration of each of the members of the research team, the Ponce Research Institute, Puerto Rico Public Health Trust, and the RADx-UP NIH Initiative for allowing us to impact vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approved users should acknowledge the provision of data access by dbGaP for accession phs002745.v1.p1, and the NIH RADx Data Hub. Approved users should also acknowledge the specific version(s) of the dataset(s) obtained from the NIH RADx Data Hub.
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number: PA-20-135
NIH Grant or Contract Number(s): 3R21MD013674-02S2
Consent/Data Use Limitations: General Research Use