Covid-19 survey
When the COVID-19 epidemic struck, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and the National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) contacted everyone who had been taking part in epidemiological studies in France. It was important for public health policymakers to understand how the French lived through this health crisis and its consequences, and Elfe birth cohort parents were therefore asked if they could exceptionally respond to a questionnaire on this subject.
Survey objectives
The purpose of this research was to describe how the pandemic had impacted the population, especially when it came to organizing family life, and how parents and children had adapted to the first nationwide lockdown. The results would shed light on how the population reacted to these measures, in order to improve prevention policies.
How was the survey rolled out?
Two questionnaires were sent out to the parents of Elfe children, in April and May.
These questionnaires focused mainly on the children’s health in relation to coronavirus, home schooling, changes in parents’ working lives, the measures that individuals and families took to protect themselves against infection and cope with lockdown, and the children’s behaviour in this potentially anxious period.
As part of the survey, serological testing also began in May, when selected families were asked to give a dried blood spot sample to find out whether they had come into contact with the virus responsible for COVID-19.
Initial survey results
Nearly 40% (i.e. 5,000 Elfe children) took part in this survey, which was conducted on an entirely voluntary basis.
During lockdown, more than half the children did not leave their home at all, or else only did so once during a typical lockdown week. Nearly half the children found it hard not being able to go out.
Generally speaking, the very small percentage (2%) of children who went out more than 10 times per week either had the opportunity to do because they lived in the country or else had a very good reason for doing so, such as attending school as the children of critical workers.
Children perfectly understood the hands‑face‑space precautions and conscientiously applied them, with 9 out of 10 children washing their hands after going out.
One in 10 children had a set of symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 (most frequent ones listed below), but none of them required hospitalization.
The serological testing was important to determine whether the children’s symptoms could be linked to a coronavirus infection. The first individual results were sent to the relevant families in July. The remaining samples are currently being analysed and the individual results will shortly be sent out.
How were the data analysed?
As always in the Elfe study, the data were analysed in a totally anonymous way, and unless participating parents expressed their opposition, they could be made available to researchers from national and international teams working on approved research projects that complied with our confidentiality policy.
SAPRIS-SERO study webinar: researchers answered questions about the initial serological testing results
First webinar organized by the cohorts involved in the SAPRIS-SERO study of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The subject of the webinar was the search for antibodies in blood samples
With talks by:
- Fabrice Carrat, doctor at Saint-Antoine Hospital, epidemiologist working at INSERM, head of the SAPRIS-SERO study
- Xavier de Lamballerie, Director of the Emerging Virus Unit in Marseille, in charge of the serological analyses
- Olivier Robineau, doctor at Dron Hospital
It was attended by the cohorts’ scientific directors: Pierre-Yves Ancel / Epipage (epipage2.inserm.fr), Marie-Aline Charles / Elfe (www.elfe-france.fr), Gianluca Severi / E3N-E4N family cohort study (www.e3n.fr et www.e4n.fr), Mathilde Touvier / Nutrinet-Santé (etude-nutrinet-sante.fr), and Marie Zins / Constances (www.constances.fr).
Do you have any questions about the infection?
Below you will find a list of frequently asked questions