The Canadian COVID-19 Experiences Project: Design and Protocol

Abstract

Introduction: Vaccine hesitancy remains a significant challenge even through the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, even in the most well-supplied countries. In Canada, despite high vaccine uptake of the first wave of vaccinations, there are signs of declining uptake of vaccine boosters. Likewise, recommended COVID-19 mitigation behaviors such as mask wearing, distancing, and hand hygiene have been challenging to sustain over the pandemic. The aim of the Canadian COVID-19 Experiences Survey (CCES) is to use a variety of social-cognitive and neurocognitive variables to predict the uptake and sustaining of vaccinations, boosters, and COVID-19 mitigation behaviors across the Canadian population through the second and third years of the pandemic. Methods and analyses: Vaccine hesitant and fully vaccinated adults (N=1,958) were recruited to the 35-minute CCES web survey, using quota sampling, with sampling weights being applied to ensure representativeness of the Canadian population. In Wave 1, conducted between 28 September and 21 October, 2021, 43.3% (n=848) reported not having received any vaccinations, 50.2% (n=983) reported being fully vaccinated, and 6.5% (n=127) reported having had one vaccination with no intention of having a second dose. Social cognitive variables being measured include intentions, beliefs, reasons, and attitudes. Neurocognitive variables being measured include executive dysfunction, delay discounting, and temporal orientation. Other key variables being measured include trust in science, political orientation, mood, and long-COVID symptoms. Ethics and dissemination: The CCES has received ethical review and approval by the University of Waterloo Office of Research Ethics. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific meetings.

Cognitive function following SARS-CoV-2 infection in a population-representative Canadian sample

“…Participants were recruited as part of the Canadian COVID-19 Experiences Project (CCEP) ( Hall et al, 2021a ), a multi-study project which includes a national cohort survey of 1958 adults aged 18 to 54. One research objective was to examine differences between fully vaccinated and vaccine-hesitant individuals on a broad set of demographic, psychosocial, and experiential variables.…”

“…Mitigation Behaviors and Demographics . COVID-19 mitigation behaviors—frequency of mask wearing, observing distancing, and recommended hand hygiene—were assessed via self-report ( Hall et al, 2021a ). Items were combined and averaged together to form an index variable, wherein higher scores were indicative of more consistent mitigation behavior (Cronbach's alpha = 0.710).…”

“…Items were combined and averaged together to form an index variable, wherein higher scores were indicative of more consistent mitigation behavior (Cronbach's alpha = 0.710). Demographic variables were also assessed via self-report, as described in the CCEP protocol ( Hall et al, 2021a ).…”