The School SPIT Study - COVID-19 Testing in Secondary Schools

SARS-CoV2 Infection Clinical Trial

Official title: The School SPIT Study (Saliva to Promote Improved Testing): A Prospective Evaluation of a Home Saliva Testing Program for COVID-19 Implemented With a Stepped-wedge Cluster Randomized Design in Secondary Schools.

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

This study will conduct an evaluation of a program that is being implemented SickKids / Toronto Public health that provides take-home saliva testing kits in schools. Operationally, there is a planned randomization so that all schools have an equitable chance to receive the intervention at various time periods during the planned operational roll-out, which will require a staggered implementation consistent with the stepped-wedge study design. The study will leverage this chance implementation to do a robust evaluation of the public health intervention. Schools that are not being rolled out to week one, will begin in the "control phase" (testing at an assessment center) and transition to the program "intervention phase" (take home saliva kits available at schools) at a randomly assigned time (wedge) over a 6-week period with all schools receiving the program by the end of the study. The investigators will evaluate the impact of the program on SARS-CoV-2 case identification in schools.

Clinical Trial Description

This is a prospective evaluation of a program that is being implemented using a stepped-wedge, cluster randomized design.

Eligible secondary public schools in Toronto Region will be randomized. The study will occur over a 7-week period with a minimum of one-week of baseline data (control phase - testing at an assessment center, primary care or acute care center) and then schools will start the program in a stepwise manner (10 crossovers per week) with take-home saliva being available to all 60 schools by the end of the study period. The primary objective of the study is to assess whether the availability of take home saliva kits at schools for symptomatic PCR testing leads to increased diagnosis of COVID-19 cases in the school. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV2 Infection

• NCT number: NCT05060510
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: The Hospital for Sick Children
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: September 14, 2021
• Completion date: June 30, 2022