JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected low-income, and racial and ethnic minority populations. Testing plays a critical role in disrupting disease transmission, but complex barriers prevent optimal testing access, particularly for Black and Latinx communities. There is limited evidence on optimal testing modalities to increase testing access for these populations.

Objective:

The primary objective of the Community Collaboration to Combat COVID-19 (C-FORWARD) trial is to define optimal COVID-19 testing modalities for maximizing testing acceptance, uptake, and timeliness of results receipt.

Methods:

C-FORWARD is a household-randomized comparative effectiveness trial conducted in an urban population representative sample. Households across 653 census block groups were sampled using a probability proportional to size approach. The primary outcome was the completion of SARS-COV-2/COVID-19 testing within 30 days of randomization.

Results:

Between February 2021 and December 2022. 1,083 individuals (881 index participants and 202 household members) were enrolled. The mean age of participants was 51 (SD ±18) years. Forty-three percent of participants identified as Black or African American, 48.6% as white, and 9.0% as other, including Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and multiple races. Five percent of participants identified as Hispanic or Latino. At the time of enrollment, 51.1% were currently working either full or part-time and 32.9% of participants had an advanced degree. Eighty percent of participants had been tested for COVID-19 previously, with 22.3% reporting having previously tested positive for COVID-19, and 86.8% of participants reported receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccination prior to enrollment.

Conclusions:

Data from the C-FORWARD trial will be used to address important questions regarding COVID-19 testing acceptance and uptake in an urban population. Clinical Trial: Clinical Trials.gov ID: NCT04673292