After applying for and receiving $ 75,000 in grant funding from the Children ’ s Hospital Colorado Research Institute , they ’ ve added a statistician , two additional professional research assistants , and several more students and pediatric residents .
ANALYZING THE DATA
With databasing comes the ability to see information collectively , making it easier to observe patterns .
“ We immediately saw a Hispanic and Latino disparity in Colorado kids ,” says Dr . Abuogi . “ It ’ s changed a little over time , but at one point , two-thirds of kids who were hospitalized with COVID-19 were identifying as Hispanic versus non-Hispanic . That was way out of proportion for what Children ’ s Colorado normally sees .”
That finding was the catalyst for an expansion of The CCC Study to explore factors associated with that disparity . Through phone surveys and focus groups — both with Hispanic and non-Hispanic families — the team is working to gain a better understanding of the risk factors and challenges related to following COVID-19 prevention approaches . The effort could lead to the creation of an intervention plan to help reduce the risk of COVID-19 and help with vaccine uptake when the time comes .
“ We also went back and added some fields we realized would be important for geocoding , like zip code and county ,” says Dr . Abuogi . “ That may help us understand more about how neighborhood characteristics such as socioeconomic status , pollution exposure and availability of public transport impact COVID-19 in children .”
Also on the team ’ s radar is exploring components including language , primary insurance and obesity — and even whether there are patterns in positive cases related to school openings and closures or remote and non-remote learning options .
ANSWERS IN REAL TIME
All in all , there are 429 fields the database has the ability to capture , which makes it an extremely valuable resource for anyone seeking answers related to how COVID-19 is affecting kids and how that information can be applied to care .
“ We receive at least one request per week to share our data from groups across the Anschutz Medical Campus ,” says Dr . Smith-Anderson .
One such request was made by the Children ’ s Colorado scientific advisory council — a group of multidisciplinary subspecialists who evaluate the latest information on COVID-19 from around the world and influence the hospital ’ s care policies . The council was weighing how to introduce a new monoclonal antibody for COVID-19 patients with underlying medical conditions .
“ We anticipate this is going to be one of the largest databases of its kind in the country , producing key insights on how COVID-19 affects kids .”
LISA ABUOGI , MD , MS
“ They wanted to see the number of kids over the age of 12 who ’ d been diagnosed with COVID-19 and had symptoms ,” she says . “ And of those with symptoms , how many had been admitted , how many needed respiratory support and how many had underlying medical conditions .”
Dr . Smith-Anderson and team were able to provide all of those data quickly , allowing the council to make informed decisions on offering the medication and how much of it they might need .
EXPANDING THE SCOPE
Although Children ’ s Colorado captures much of the pediatric patient population from Colorado and some surrounding states , it ’ s not a complete picture of every child in Colorado who ’ s been diagnosed with COVID-19 . For the rest , Drs . Abuogi and Smith- Anderson have partnered with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment , or CDPHE .
CDPHE is the health umbrella for the state — the organization to which local health departments and hospitals are required to report case numbers , contact tracing and other information .
“ We have a data-sharing agreement in place ,” says Dr . Abuogi . “ CDPHE has mirrored our database , and they ’ re inputting the same information on their end . Eventually , we ’ ll merge our two data sets . We anticipate this is going to be one of the largest databases of its kind in the country , producing key insights on how COVID-19 affects kids .”
Between The CCC Study itself and the external requests for subsets of data , the database continually serves a variety of efforts working to inform the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in children . •
To contact The CCC Study investigators , email CCCStudy @ childrenscolorado . org .
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