The impact of COVID-19 on Longitudinal Population Studies (LPS)

Theme overview

The parallel sessions within the impact of COVID-19 on LPS theme focused on the following issues. Select the presentation titles to download the slides as PDFs.

Pivoting to remote data collection with different age groups
Chaired by Paul Bradshaw, Growing Up in Scotland
- Growing Up in Ireland: Adapting data collection methods in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
  Lisa Kelly & Eoin McNamara, Growing Up in Ireland
- Adapting to the times: Collecting data in the CLS cohorts during the pandemic
  Matt Brown, UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Remote collection of biological samples
Chaired by Elaine Dennison, Hertfordshire Cohort Study
- COVID-19 antibody testing in longitudinal population studies
  Andrew Wong, COVID-19 Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing National Core Study
- Twinduction: baseline sample and data collection in newly registered twin research volunteers
  Taha Bhatti, TwinsUK

Trialling virtual visits
Chaired by Ruth Hogg, Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study of Ageing
- The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children: The role of virtual visits in LPS data collection
  Melanie Lewcock, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
- Video Interviews for Longitudinal Studies During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  Alisha Pathania, English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Summary of key points

COVID-19 brought challenges (e.g. speed of change, shortages of equipment and postal issues) and opportunities (e.g. transition to online, more effective communication).
The pandemic highlighted the importance of PPI, particularly where difficult discussions were held virtually.
The switch to remote data collection has proven that the approach is workable, but also confirms the simplicity and effectiveness of in-home collection.
Issues to be resolved include remote data collection in new studies (at which stage interviewer engagement is critical) and ensuring that objective or clinical data is of sufficient quality.
In future, studies are likely to retain various levels of remote activity and methodologies and incorporate pandemic contingencies into long term planning.