The Cabarrus County COVID-19 Prevalence and Immunity (C3PI) Study: design, methods, and baseline characteristics

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents significant public health challenges.
• Understanding community-level disease prevalence and immunity is vital for pandemic response.
• The Cabarrus County COVID-19 Prevalence and Immunity (C3PI) Study was established to address these needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of active COVID-19 infection within a community.
• To measure SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in the population.
• To provide longitudinal data on the evolving pandemic and its impact.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 1,426 participants from the MURDOCK Study Community Registry and Biorepository.
• Utilized baseline and bi-weekly follow-up surveys for data collection.
• Employed a nested, weighted random sub-cohort (n=300) for detailed incidence and prevalence measurements of COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies.

Main Results:

• The sub-cohort (n=300) exhibited demographic differences compared to the overall cohort (n=1,426), including younger age, higher proportion of men, Hispanic, and Black participants.
• Sub-cohort participants had similar anthropometrics and medical histories but higher educational attainment and pre-pandemic household income.
• Baseline characteristics provide context for interpreting prevalence and immunity data.

Conclusions:

• The C3PI Study is a key component of a multisite consortium.
• The study will yield critical data on COVID-19 epidemiology in North Carolina.
• Findings will inform community perspectives, behaviors, mitigation strategies, and the overall burden of the pandemic.