SARS-CoV2 Infection
Conditions
Keywords
School Testing
Brief summary
This study will conduct an evaluation of a program that is being implemented SickKids / Toronto Public health that provides take-home saliva testing kits in schools. Operationally, there is a planned randomization so that all schools have an equitable chance to receive the intervention at various time periods during the planned operational roll-out, which will require a staggered implementation consistent with the stepped-wedge study design. The study will leverage this chance implementation to do a robust evaluation of the public health intervention. Schools that are not being rolled out to week one, will begin in the control phase (testing at an assessment center) and transition to the program intervention phase (take home saliva kits available at schools) at a randomly assigned time (wedge) over a 6-week period with all schools receiving the program by the end of the study. The investigators will evaluate the impact of the program on SARS-CoV-2 case identification in schools.
Detailed description
This is a prospective evaluation of a program that is being implemented using a stepped-wedge, cluster randomized design. Eligible secondary public schools in Toronto Region will be randomized. The study will occur over a 7-week period with a minimum of one-week of baseline data (control phase - testing at an assessment center, primary care or acute care center) and then schools will start the program in a stepwise manner (10 crossovers per week) with take-home saliva being available to all 60 schools by the end of the study period. The primary objective of the study is to assess whether the availability of take home saliva kits at schools for symptomatic PCR testing leads to increased diagnosis of COVID-19 cases in the school.
Interventions
DIAGNOSTIC_TESTTake home saliva kit
Saliva kits will be made available at schools for pick up to support symptomatic testing using PCR for students, staff and family members.
Sponsors
The Hospital for Sick Children
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SEQUENTIAL
Primary purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
This is a prospective evaluation of a program that is being implemented using a stepped-wedge, cluster randomized design.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
2 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Secondary schools will be included in the evaluation if they are: * Considered a secondary school by the school board * Open for in-person learning during the study period * They have at least 100 students * Offer Grades 9-12 (secondary)
Exclusion criteria
Schools that are middle schools only, that are not open for in-person learning, have fewer than 100 students or are not a complete secondary school (i.e. adult learning schools, schools offering independent courses, prep schools with 1-2 grades, secondary schools with \< 4 grades) will be excluded.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SARS-CoV-2 Case Identification | Weekly measurement over 7 week study period | The number of cases positive for SARS-CoV-2 in a cohort per week per school (rate per cohort per week) in the intervention period compared to the control period. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Uptake of take-home saliva kits for testing | Weekly measurement over 7 week study period | Frequency of use of take-home saliva kits per school per week |
| Impact on timing of test for symptomatic individuals | Over 7 week study period | To assess whether availability of take-home saliva kits at school leads to earlier testing as measured by duration of symptoms before testing of the symptomatic case |
| Impact on secondary transmission | Over 7 week study period | To assess whether the availability of take-home saliva testing leads to reduced transmission within exposed cohorts as measured by the number of secondary cases identified in exposed cohorts. |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed