Cohort Profile: A national prospective cohort study of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic outcomes in the U.S. - The CHASING COVID Cohort Study

Purpose The CHASING COVID Cohort study is a U.S.-based prospective cohort study launched during the upswing of the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic. The objectives are to: 1) estimate and evaluate determinants of the cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, disease, and deaths; 2) assess the impact of the pandemic on psychosocial and economic outcomes; and 3) assess the uptake of pandemic mitigation strategies. Participants We began enrolling participants March 28, 2020 using internet-based strategies. Adults ≥18 years residing anywhere in the U.S. or U.S. territories were eligible. 6,753 people are enrolled in the cohort, including participants from all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Participants are contacted regularly to complete study assessments, including interviews and specimen collection. Findings to date Of 4,247 participants who provided a specimen for baseline serologic testing, 135 were seropositive by screening antibody testing (3.2%, 95% CI 2.7%-3.5%) and 90 were seropositive by confirmatory antibody testing (2.1%, 95% CI 1.7%-2.6%). Cohort data have been used to assess the role of household crowding and the presence of children in the household as potential risk factors for severe COVID-19 early in the U.S. pandemic; to describe the prevalence of anxiety symptoms and its relationship to COVID-19 outcomes and other potential stressors; and to identify preferences for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing when community transmission is on the rise via a discrete choice experiment. Future plans The CHASING COVID Cohort Study has outlined a research agenda that involves ongoing monitoring of the cumulative incidence and determinants of SARS-CoV-2 outcomes, mental health outcomes and economic outcomes. Additional priorities include COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, uptake and effectiveness; incidence, prevalence and correlates of long-haul COVID-19; and the extent and duration of the protective effect of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Funding for this project is provided by The National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), award number 3UH3AI133675-04S1 (MPIs: D Nash and C Grov), the CUNY Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health (cunyisph.org) and the COVID-19 Grant Program of the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and NICHD grant P2C HD050924 (Carolina Population Center). ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School for Public Health and Health Policy. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [DN]. The data are not yet publicly available, but we are preparing to post a deidentified, HIPAA compliant, public use version of our baseline and follow-up data on GitHub.