Experiences with regular testing of students for SARS-CoV-2 in primary and secondary schools: results from a cross-sectional study in two Norwegian counties, autumn 2021
Abstract Background To allow for normal school attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic, regular testing of students was introduced in the autumn 2021 in Norway to manage COVID-19 transmission. We mapped the experiences of five stakeholders (parents, students, school staff and administration, contact...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-08-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16452-7 |
| _version_ | 1797451267253993472 |
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| author | Léa Franconeri Sara Stebbings Petter Heradstveit Mia Johansen Ragnhild Løken Emily MacDonald Liz Ødeskaug Umaer Naseer |
| author_facet | Léa Franconeri Sara Stebbings Petter Heradstveit Mia Johansen Ragnhild Løken Emily MacDonald Liz Ødeskaug Umaer Naseer |
| author_sort | Léa Franconeri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background To allow for normal school attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic, regular testing of students was introduced in the autumn 2021 in Norway to manage COVID-19 transmission. We mapped the experiences of five stakeholders (parents, students, school staff and administration, contact tracing teams) regarding the implementation of regular testing in primary and secondary schools in Oslo and Viken counties, to assess the acceptability through different indicators and improve future guidelines. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October and November 2021 to explore experiences of implementation, compliance, satisfaction, difficulties, concerns, confidence in regular testing, quality of teaching and school attendance. Five stakeholder groups were invited to participate: contact tracing teams; school administrators and employees in primary, lower secondary, and upper-secondary school; students in upper-secondary school and parents of primary and lower secondary students. Bivariate analyses were performed for students, parents, and school employees groups. Descriptive analyses were done for contact tracing teams and school administrators. Results Four thousand five hundred sixty-five participants were included in our study. School attendance increased for most of the students in primary and lower secondary schools in Oslo and Viken after the implementation of regular testing. Students across all school levels reported high testing compliance and satisfaction with the implementation. Compliance was significantly associated with an increasing number of weekly tests across all school levels up to two weekly tests. Contact tracing teams were less satisfied with the cooperation with the educational authorities compared to the school employees. Higher educational level of parents was significantly associated with decreased concern of their children getting infected at school after regular testing implementation. Concerned parents were more likely to keep children at home from school, to protect all household members from becoming infected. Lack of time and communication were reported as challenging factors to implementation. Conclusion Compliance, satisfaction, and confidence in regular testing of COVID-19 were high among stakeholders. An acceptable testing regime for a future regular testing implementation would be a home-based, bi-weekly test. Increased awareness of the importance of school attendance, safety of regular testing along with good communication and role clarification should be prioritized for stakeholders involved in regular testing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T14:51:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5c283b7287004b4699aa066d0fd3db92 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T14:51:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-5c283b7287004b4699aa066d0fd3db922023-11-26T14:25:46ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582023-08-0123111110.1186/s12889-023-16452-7Experiences with regular testing of students for SARS-CoV-2 in primary and secondary schools: results from a cross-sectional study in two Norwegian counties, autumn 2021Léa Franconeri0Sara Stebbings1Petter Heradstveit2Mia Johansen3Ragnhild Løken4Emily MacDonald5Liz Ødeskaug6Umaer Naseer7Division for Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDivision for Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDivision for Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDivision for Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDivision for Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDivision for Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDivision for Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDivision for Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthAbstract Background To allow for normal school attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic, regular testing of students was introduced in the autumn 2021 in Norway to manage COVID-19 transmission. We mapped the experiences of five stakeholders (parents, students, school staff and administration, contact tracing teams) regarding the implementation of regular testing in primary and secondary schools in Oslo and Viken counties, to assess the acceptability through different indicators and improve future guidelines. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October and November 2021 to explore experiences of implementation, compliance, satisfaction, difficulties, concerns, confidence in regular testing, quality of teaching and school attendance. Five stakeholder groups were invited to participate: contact tracing teams; school administrators and employees in primary, lower secondary, and upper-secondary school; students in upper-secondary school and parents of primary and lower secondary students. Bivariate analyses were performed for students, parents, and school employees groups. Descriptive analyses were done for contact tracing teams and school administrators. Results Four thousand five hundred sixty-five participants were included in our study. School attendance increased for most of the students in primary and lower secondary schools in Oslo and Viken after the implementation of regular testing. Students across all school levels reported high testing compliance and satisfaction with the implementation. Compliance was significantly associated with an increasing number of weekly tests across all school levels up to two weekly tests. Contact tracing teams were less satisfied with the cooperation with the educational authorities compared to the school employees. Higher educational level of parents was significantly associated with decreased concern of their children getting infected at school after regular testing implementation. Concerned parents were more likely to keep children at home from school, to protect all household members from becoming infected. Lack of time and communication were reported as challenging factors to implementation. Conclusion Compliance, satisfaction, and confidence in regular testing of COVID-19 were high among stakeholders. An acceptable testing regime for a future regular testing implementation would be a home-based, bi-weekly test. Increased awareness of the importance of school attendance, safety of regular testing along with good communication and role clarification should be prioritized for stakeholders involved in regular testing.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16452-7SARS-Cov2COVID-19Educational settingsStudentsDaily testingRepetitive screening |
| spellingShingle | Léa Franconeri Sara Stebbings Petter Heradstveit Mia Johansen Ragnhild Løken Emily MacDonald Liz Ødeskaug Umaer Naseer Experiences with regular testing of students for SARS-CoV-2 in primary and secondary schools: results from a cross-sectional study in two Norwegian counties, autumn 2021 BMC Public Health SARS-Cov2 COVID-19 Educational settings Students Daily testing Repetitive screening |
| title | Experiences with regular testing of students for SARS-CoV-2 in primary and secondary schools: results from a cross-sectional study in two Norwegian counties, autumn 2021 |
| title_full | Experiences with regular testing of students for SARS-CoV-2 in primary and secondary schools: results from a cross-sectional study in two Norwegian counties, autumn 2021 |
| title_fullStr | Experiences with regular testing of students for SARS-CoV-2 in primary and secondary schools: results from a cross-sectional study in two Norwegian counties, autumn 2021 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiences with regular testing of students for SARS-CoV-2 in primary and secondary schools: results from a cross-sectional study in two Norwegian counties, autumn 2021 |
| title_short | Experiences with regular testing of students for SARS-CoV-2 in primary and secondary schools: results from a cross-sectional study in two Norwegian counties, autumn 2021 |
| title_sort | experiences with regular testing of students for sars cov 2 in primary and secondary schools results from a cross sectional study in two norwegian counties autumn 2021 |
| topic | SARS-Cov2 COVID-19 Educational settings Students Daily testing Repetitive screening |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16452-7 |
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