WVXU: UC looking For COVID-19 research volunteers
COMPASS study holding local enrollment events
UC researchers are part of the worldwide effort to better understand COVID-19 and how it has impacted communities. Since February of this year, they've relied on volunteers to provide information about how they've experienced the pandemic. But the window to help with the nationwide Community Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Study, called COMPASS, is closing.
In a story on the study published by WVXU, Maggie Powers-Fletcher, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the UC College of Medicine, says the trial involves completing a questionnaire and providing blood and nasal swab samples.
"Getting that information combined allows us to plan future interventions and better understand what happens in a pandemic," she said.
Maggie Powers-Fletcher, MD, of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the UC College of Medicine/Photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand
Powers-Fletcher told WVXU the questionnaire covers a wide range of information.
The questionnaire, she says, runs the gamut.
"So, whether there's any impact on social social activities, was their impact on mental health? What are public perceptions of the pandemic and disease and virus, and just a better understanding of what was going on with community members during the pandemic," she says. "This provides a lot of helpful information about the community mindset and the community impact."
The blood and nasal swab samples, she says, test for COVID-19 and antibodies. Due to lack of testing early in the pandemic and asymptomatic cases, it's not completely accurate to ask people whether they've contracted COVID-19.
Read more about UC's role in the COMPASS trial here.
Lead photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand
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