dbGaP Study Accession: phs002551

NIH Institute/Center: NIMHD

RADx Data Program: RADx-rad

Release Date: 11/08/2022

DOI: 10.60773/y2n3-k036

Updated Date: 01/18/2024

Study Description: The Marshallese/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders: Alternate Surveillance for COVID-19 in a Unique Population (MASC UP) study relied on innovative, culturally tailored participatory surveillance methods to identify and evaluate strategies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in this high-risk, clustered population. First, a cohort was recruited to deploy a multi-modal, multi-level surveillance system in two of the largest Marshallese/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders communities in the US: Northwest Arkansas (n = 300), Spokane County, and Seattle area Washington (n = 300). Each cohort member was followed longitudinally for at least 12 months. Modalities included providing kits to detect changes in body temperature, public service outreach to reduce stigma associated with reporting symptoms, and deploying social media and text message-based screening technology to augment conventional test-based surveillance. Second, a social contact network was constructed among participants from the surveillance cohort to identify community structures and networks that increased the risk of COVID-19 infection. The findings were used to integrate effective components into a surveillance ecosystem that can be disseminated to other clustered groups. The specific aims were to: 1) Create a longitudinal, multi-modal and multi-level surveillance cohort (n = 600) that targeted early detection of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases among Marshallese/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders adults in the continental U.S.; 2) Characterize the social contact network among surveillance cohort members to identify community structures and networks that put individuals at increased risk of acquiring COVID-19; and 3) Identify effective modalities for participatory disease surveillance and sustainably integrate them into ongoing COVID-19 and other public health surveillance efforts for the Marshallese/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders population. MASC UP demonstrated the value of culturally tailored, participatory disease surveillance developed and tested in real-world settings to mitigate COVID-19 disparities in a high-risk, clustered population that has been profoundly underserved by public health efforts to date. The findings can be disseminated and implemented for improved surveillance and disease prevention in other high-risk, non-institutionalized U.S. minority groups.

Principal Investigator: Dillard, Denise

Has Data Files: Yes

Study Domain: Disease Surveillance; Virological Testing; Multimodal Surveillance

Data Collection Method: Smartphone; Survey

Keywords: Multimodality; COVID Communication via Text Messaging; COVID Communication via Social Media; COVID-related Health Disparities; Risk Mitigation; Anosmia; COVID Outreach/Education

Study Design: Longitudinal Cohort

Multi-Center Study: FALSE

Data Types: Other; Questionnaires/Surveys

Data Types, Other: Body temperature and self-reported flu/COVID-19 symptoms

Study Start Date: 12/21/2020

Study End Date: 11/30/2022

Species: Human Data

Estimated Cohort Size: 600

Study Population Focus: Underserved/Vulnerable Population; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; Adults

Acknowledgement Statement: This study was supported through funding, 4R01MD016526-02, for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) as part of the RADx-rad program. Approved users should acknowledge the provision of data access by dbGaP for accession phs002551.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: RFA-OD-20-016

NIH Grant or Contract Number(s): 4R01MD016526-02

Consent/Data Use Limitations: General Research Use