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Observational Study
. 2023 Dec 26;12(Supplement_2):S9-S13.
doi: 10.1093/jpids/piad072.

School Absenteeism as a Marker for Community COVID-19 Rates

Ashley Stark  1 , Daniel K Benjamin Jr  1   2 , Anthony Kajencki  2 , Katelyn Mann  2 , Natalie Rodriguez  2 , Ian Troan  2 , Larry Hill  2 , Angelique E Boutzoukas  1   2 , Kanecia O Zimmerman  1   2
Affiliations
Observational Study

School Absenteeism as a Marker for Community COVID-19 Rates

Ashley Stark et al. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. .

Abstract

Background: Reported community transmission rates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may not be accurate, particularly since at-home testing has become widely available. School absenteeism may serve as a marker of broader community COVID-19 transmission.

Methods: We performed an observational study of North Carolina kindergarten through 12th grade schools participating in the ABC Science Collaborative that offered in-school instruction, and contributed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 data for at least 2 of 4 weeks monthly for the 2021-2022 academic year. Additionally, we analyzed publicly available databases including the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Data Repository, and National Center for Education Statistics. We described community and school COVID-19 infection rates compared with student monthly absenteeism rates to determine if the relationship between community COVID-19 infection rates and student absenteeism varied over time.

Results: We included 500 192 students from 27 school districts. For the 2021-2022 academic year, the student and community COVID-19 infection rates did not show a significant difference (P > .05) across each month of comparison. Student absenteeism rates and community COVID-19 infection rates by month showed a similar trend across the academic year. For every 1% increase in community infection percentage, we found a 1.68% (1.12-2.25%) increase in absenteeism (P < .001); for every 1 month change in time, we found a 0.12% (0.01-0.24%) increase in absenteeism (P < .05).

Conclusions: Student absenteeism and infection rates may be a useful marker of COVID-19 community infection rates when testing frequency and results reporting are inconsistent.

Keywords: COVID-19; community infection rates; student absenteeism.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Community and Student COVID-19 Infection and Student Absenteeism Rate. Community and student COVID-19 infection rates per month were compared at each time point and did not show a significant difference throughout the academic year (P > .05). Student absenteeism and community COVID-19 infection rates showed similar trends, suggesting that student infection and absentee rates could be used as a marker for community COVID-19 rates. Notably, the delta variant (August–December 2021) and omicron variant (December 2021–March 2022) [12] surge periods showed an increase in student absenteeism. COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019.
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