OUTcomes POST COVID: The OUTPOST pilot study
Project Team
Description
The successful OUTPOST Pilot study has now upgraded into a larger, national study.
Click here to learn more and join the upgraded study
What is the OUTPOST pilot study?
The OUTPOST pilot study will help design a large, national study to understand health outcomes after respiratory infection, including recovery, persistent symptoms and functional impairment.
The study will recruit up to 100 people with acute respiratory symptoms (and people without symptoms as control subjects) through general practice clinics in Victoria.
Study participants will be tested for several different viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
The pilot study will help to refine participant recruitment strategies, baseline and follow-up questionnaires and viral testing processes that can then be adapted for the main study.
Participants in the pilot study will be given the opportunity to participate in the main study once it begins.
Who can participate?
Anyone aged 12+ with the onset of respiratory symptoms in the last 7 days can sign up to participate.
We will exclude anyone with past or current prolonged post-viral symptoms.
If I sign up, what do I have to do?
Once you provide your consent to participate in the study, you will be sent a swab kit to take a nasal sample at home. This will be sent by Express Post and will arrive within 1-2 days of your sign up. The swab kit will come with step-by-step instructions, similar to other nasal swabs for at-home COVID testing. You will be given details to arrange a courier pick up of your completed swab sample. The courier will take your swab to the lab for testing.
You will also be sent a set of baseline questionnaires to fill in. These provide information about your background and your current symptoms. The baseline questionnaires will take about 30 minutes to complete.
You will be sent a link to complete follow-up questionnaires 6 weeks after you join the study. This will include similar questions about your symptoms as the baseline questionnaires.
I am interested, how can I get involved?
If you are eligible for the study, you will then be sent further details including study details and a consent form.
You can access the Plain Language Statement for the study here. This document explains the study and what your involvement would require in detail. Please read the information in the Plain Language Statement to help you decide whether you would like to participate in the study.
If you have any questions about the study, please contact Dr Ruby Biezen, ruby.biezen@unimelb.edu.au Phone: +61 3 9035 4886
Other relevant resources:
https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/managing-covid-19-home
https://www.health.gov.au/diseases/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv-infection
https://www.health.gov.au/topics/covid-19/about?language=en
https://www.health.gov.au/diseases/influenza-flu?language=en
