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. 2022 Jun 27;191(7):1153-1173.
doi: 10.1093/aje/kwac032.

Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID-19 Research (C4R) Study: Study Design

Elizabeth C Oelsner, Akshaya Krishnaswamy, Pallavi P Balte, Norrina Bai Allen, Tauqeer Ali, Pramod Anugu, Howard F Andrews, Komal Arora, Alyssa Asaro, R Graham Barr, Alain G Bertoni, Jessica Bon, Rebekah Boyle, Arunee A Chang, Grace Chen, Sean Coady, Shelley A Cole, Josef Coresh, Elaine Cornell, Adolfo Correa, David Couper, Mary Cushman, Ryan T Demmer, Mitchell S V Elkind, Aaron R Folsom, Amanda M Fretts, Kelley P Gabriel, Linda C Gallo, Jose Gutierrez, Mei Lan K Han, Joel M Henderson, Virginia J Howard, Carmen R Isasi, David R Jacobs Jr, Suzanne E Judd, Debora Kamin Mukaz, Alka M Kanaya, Namratha R Kandula, Robert C Kaplan, Gregory L Kinney, Anna Kucharska-Newton, Joyce S Lee, Cora E Lewis, Deborah A Levine, Emily B Levitan, Bruce D Levy, Barry J Make, Kimberly Malloy, Jennifer J Manly, Carolina Mendoza-Puccini, Katie A Meyer, Yuan-I Nancy Min, Matthew R Moll, Wendy C Moore, David Mauger, Victor E Ortega, Priya Palta, Monica M Parker, Wanda Phipatanakul, Wendy S Post, Lisa Postow, Bruce M Psaty, Elizabeth A Regan, Kimberly Ring, Véronique L Roger, Jerome I Rotter, Tatjana Rundek, Ralph L Sacco, Michael Schembri, David A Schwartz, Sudha Seshadri, James M Shikany, Mario Sims, Karen D Hinckley Stukovsky, Gregory A Talavera, Russell P Tracy, Jason G Umans, Ramachandran S Vasan, Karol E Watson, Sally E Wenzel, Karen Winters, Prescott G Woodruff, Vanessa Xanthakis, Ying Zhang, Yiyi Zhang; C4R Investigators

Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID-19 Research (C4R) Study: Study Design

Elizabeth C Oelsner et al. Am J Epidemiol. .

Abstract

The Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID-19 Research (C4R) is a national prospective study of adults comprising 14 established US prospective cohort studies. Starting as early as 1971, investigators in the C4R cohort studies have collected data on clinical and subclinical diseases and their risk factors, including behavior, cognition, biomarkers, and social determinants of health. C4R links this pre-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) phenotyping to information on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and acute and postacute COVID-related illness. C4R is largely population-based, has an age range of 18-108 years, and reflects the racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic diversity of the United States. C4R ascertains SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 illness using standardized questionnaires, ascertainment of COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths, and a SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey conducted via dried blood spots. Master protocols leverage existing robust retention rates for telephone and in-person examinations and high-quality event surveillance. Extensive prepandemic data minimize referral, survival, and recall bias. Data are harmonized with research-quality phenotyping unmatched by clinical and survey-based studies; these data will be pooled and shared widely to expedite collaboration and scientific findings. This resource will allow evaluation of risk and resilience factors for COVID-19 severity and outcomes, including postacute sequelae, and assessment of the social and behavioral impact of the pandemic on long-term health trajectories.

Keywords: COVID-19; cohort studies; coronavirus disease 2019; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

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Update of

  • Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID-19 Research (C4R) Study: Study Design.
    Oelsner EC, Allen NB, Ali T, Anugu P, Andrews H, Asaro A, Balte PP, Barr RG, Bertoni AG, Bon J, Boyle R, Chang AA, Chen G, Cole SA, Coresh J, Cornell E, Correa A, Couper D, Cushman M, Demmer RT, Elkind MSV, Folsom AR, Fretts AM, Gabriel KP, Gallo L, Gutierrez J, Han MK, Henderson JM, Howard VJ, Isasi CR, Jacobs DR, Judd SE, Mukaz DK, Kanaya AM, Kandula NR, Kaplan R, Krishnaswamy A, Kinney GL, Kucharska-Newton A, Lee JS, Lewis CE, Levine DA, Levitan EB, Levy B, Make B, Malloy K, Manly JJ, Meyer KA, Min YI, Moll M, Moore WC, Mauger D, Ortega VE, Palta P, Parker MM, Phipatanakul W, Post W, Psaty BM, Regan EA, Ring K, Roger VL, Rotter JI, Rundek T, Sacco RL, Schembri M, Schwartz DA, Seshadri S, Shikany JM, Sims M, Hinckley Stukovsky KD, Talavera GA, Tracy RP, Umans JG, Vasan RS, Watson K, Wenzel SE, Winters K, Woodruff PG, Xanthakis V, Zhang Y, Zhang Y; C4R Investigators. Oelsner EC, et al. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2021 Mar 20:2021.03.19.21253986. doi: 10.1101/2021.03.19.21253986. medRxiv. 2021. Update in: Am J Epidemiol. 2022 Jun 27;191(7):1153-1173. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwac032. PMID: 33758891 Free PMC article. Updated. Preprint.

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