PERC Health Canada COVID-19

A Multi-Center Evaluation of Buccal Swabs With the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 for Point-of-Care Detection SARS-CoV-2 in Pediatric Emergency Departments

Although there are several licensed vaccines for SAR-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in Canada, none of them are approved for use in children under the age of 12, leaving five million children under 12 years unvaccinated. There is a need to find methods of mass rapid point of care testing in unvaccinated populations such as in schools that can be performed by a lay individual. This multi-center study will evaluate the clinical sensitivity of buccal swabs with the ID NOW COVID-19 device in comparison to standard of care COVID-19 testing at 15 pediatric emergency centres across Canada.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2 Infection
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Buccal Swabc- Copan flocked swab; Diagnostic test: Standard of Care COVID-19 swab

Detailed Description

This study will enroll approx 2882 participants under the age of 18 at 15 pediatric emergency centres across Canada. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the clinical sensitivity of buccal swab testing using Abbott ID NOW COVID-19device to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection among children aged 0-<18.0 years old presenting to the emergency department with an indication for SARS-CoV-2 testing as determined by the clinical care team. The study also seeks to identify factors that influence the accuracy of the testing approach and to examine the feasibility and perception of self/caregiver buccal swab sample collection.

In this prospective study, we will validate a self collected buccal swab that is analyzed with the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 device against a reference RT-PCR nasal, nasopharyngeal (NP) or throat swab (or others) deemed standard of care at participating sites. The standard of care swabs will be collected by a qualified health professional and assessed by local laboratory services.

Individuals presenting to the emergency department that are identified as meeting the criteria as per local guidelines to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 (i.e. droplet precautions) will be appropriately consented and screened for participation in the study.

Eligible, consented participants will have their past medical history, COVID-19 symptom assessment, vaccination status, and physical exam findings collected from their charts.

A qualified healthcare professional will obtain a standard of care RT-PCR Swab from the participant. The results from this swab will be collected from the participants chart once available.

Depending on age, the study team will then train the participant/caregiver how to perform and obtain a buccal swab from the inside of the cheek. The collected buccal swab will be analyzed by the study team using the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 device and results obtained within approx 15 mins.

Participants and their families will be notified of the qualitative result from the buccal swab.

Participants and their caregivers will be asked to complete pain assessment and acceptability questionnaires for both the standard of care and buccal swab tests.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 2882
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Alberta
    • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
      • Stollery Children's Hospital
  • British Columbia
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
      • BC Children's Hospital
  • Newfoundland and Labrador
    • Saint John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
      • Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre
  • Nova Scotia
    • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
      • IWK Health Centre
  • Ontario
    • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
      • Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
    • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
      • McMaster Children's Hospital
    • Kingston, Ontario, Canada
      • Kingston Health Sciences Centre
    • London, Ontario, Canada
      • Children's Hospital London Health Sciences Centre
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
      • The Hospital for Sick Children
  • Quebec
    • Montréal, Quebec, Canada
      • Montreal Children's Hospital
    • Montréal, Quebec, Canada
      • CHU Sainte-Justine
    • Québec City, Quebec, Canada
      • Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Laval
  • Saskatchewan
    • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
      • Jim Pattison Children's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: No older than 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age <18.0 years old
2. Presenting to a participating emergency department
3. Consented to undergo local standard of care SARS-CoV-2 test
4. Able to read/speak English or French

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Inability or unwillingness of individual or legal guardian/representative to give written informed consent or child to give assent.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: COVID-19 Swab Collection; All participants will receive standard of care COVID-19 testing in addition to buccal swab COVID-19 testing	Diagnostic test: Buccal Swabc- Copan flocked swab; All participants will have a buccal swab sampled collected from the inside of the mouth either by themselves or by their caregiver; Diagnostic test: Standard of Care COVID-19 swab; All participants will receive a standard of care COVID-19 swab collected by a qualified healthcare professional

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Buccal Swab Clinical Sensitivity	The study will evaluate the clinical sensitivity of buccal swab testing using Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection among children aged 0-<18.0 years old presenting to the emergency department with an indication for SARS-CoV-2 testing as compared to standard of care reference standard COVID-19 swab testing	3 month recruitment timeframe

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Accuracy of Testing Approach	The team will Identify factors which influence the accuracy of testing such as symptoms onset, duration of symptoms, age, past medical history, vaccination status etc.	3 month recruitment timeframe
Feasibility and Acceptability of Buccal Swab Collection	The study will examine the feasibility and perception of self/caregiver buccal swab sample collection	3 month recruitment timeframe

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Calgary
• Collaborators: Health Canada
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Stephen Freedman, MD, University Of Calgary

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 10, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): September 10, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 10, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 8, 2023
• Last Verified: May 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Lung Diseases; COVID-19
• Other Study ID Numbers: REB21-1373

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No