CLSA COVID-19 Studies
In response to coronavirus, the CLSA has launched three sub-studies to explore the impacts of the virus.
More than 28,000 CLSA participants have taken part in the CLSA COVID-19 Questionnaire Study to investigate the effects of the pandemic on older adults, exploring how they cope, the impacts on their physical and mental health and changes to how they access health-care services. The CLSA COVID-19 Questionnaire Study is funded by the Juravinski Research Institute, McMaster University, the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, the Nova Scotia COVID-19 Health Research Coalition and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
In fall 2020, a partnership with the Government of Canada's COVID-19 Immunity Task Force launched the CLSA COVID-19 Antibody Study. This study collects and analyzes blood samples from more than 19,000 CLSA participants in 10 provinces to better understand how widespread SARS-CoV-2 infection is among adults over age 50.
A third study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Weston Brain Institute, examines the impacts of SARS-CoV-2 on brain health.
COVID-19 Questionnaire Study
Launched April 15, 2020, the CLSA COVID-19 Questionnaire Study collected data from 28,559 CLSA participants over an eight-month period. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of the pandemic on older adults, exploring how they cope, the impacts on their physical and mental health and changes to how they access health-care services.
COVID-19 Antibody Study
The CLSA COVID-19 Antibody Study collects and analyzes blood samples from more than 19,000 CLSA participants in 10 provinces. Study participants also complete a questionnaire, either by phone or online, that collects information about symptoms, risk factors, health-care use and the psychosocial and economic impacts of COVID-19.
COVID-19 Brain Health Study
The CLSA COVID-19 Brain Study is being led by Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose (University of British Columbia), Dr. Eric Smith (University of Calgary) and Dr. Parminder Raina (McMaster University). The Brain Study also involves many researchers from universities across Canada. The overarching goal of the CLSA COVID-19 Brain Study is to permit better understanding about how COVID-19 affects our cognition and the brain both immediately and in the longer term.