About

Welcome to the website for the Covid-19 and Trust in Science (CATS) Project. CATS is housed at the Trust Collaboratory at INCITE at Columbia University, led by Gil Eyal, Cristian Capotescue, and Larry Au. The English-language data collection for CATS is now complete, and was conducted from October to December 2021. We worked on the Brazilian arm of CATS from the end of January to April 2022, with Renan Gonçalves Leonel da Silva (ETH Zurich). And in December 2022, we have launched the Chinese arm of CATS.

We are interested in the experiences of recovering or recovered Covid-19 patients. We are especially interested in those who have Long Covid (or Long Haul Covid or Post-Covid Syndrome), which is understood broadly as the persisting symptoms and complications arising from Covid-19 that last for weeks and months, well beyond the period of acute illness [1]. These symptoms vary according to patient, but include symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, and respiratory distress [2]. Researchers have estimated that about 10 to 35% of those with Covid-19 develop Long Covid [3].

CATS aims to document: (1) the experience of recovering Covid-19 patients and Long Covid patients as they attempt to gain access to medical care and support; and (2) the sources of trustworthy information that Long Covid patients rely on to make decisions about their own health and wellbeing.

If you have any questions about CATS or about your participation, please reach out to [email protected]. If at any time you have concerns about the conduct of the research or your rights as a participant, you should contact Columbia University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB phone number is 212-305-5883 and the email is [email protected]. The protocol number for this study is AAAT8370, and can be referenced in communications.

For updates about CATS and new studies from fellow social scientists documenting the experience of Long Covid, please see our Blog. For resources and patient groups for those suffering from Long Covid, please see our Resource page. For more about our ongoing Brazil study, see the Brasil page.

References

[1] Callard, Felicity, and Elisa Perego. 2021. “How and Why Patients Made Long Covid.” Social Science & Medicine 268:113426.

[2] Davis, Hannah E., Gina S. Assaf, Lisa McCorkell, Hannah Wei, Ryan J. Low, Yochai Re’em, Signe Redfield, Jared P. Austin, and Athena Akrami. 2021. “Characterizing Long COVID in an International Cohort: 7 Months of Symptoms and Their Impact.” MedRxiv 2020.12.24.20248802.

[3] Pavli, Androula, Maria Theodoridou, and Helena C. Maltezou. 2021. “Post-COVID Syndrome: Incidence, Clinical Spectrum, and Challenges for Primary Healthcare Professionals.” Archives of Medical Research.