Participants

Participants in the CLSA COVID-19 Brain Study:

• Complete one 45-minute telephone interview; and,
• Come into a clinic to get a one-hour magnetic resonance image (MRI) taken of the brain at a clinic associated with the CLSA Data Collection Site (DCS) nearest to you.

The MRI and the short telephone interview will be repeated two years later for all participants, and one and two years later for a small subset of participants. These MRIs and other data will become part of the CLSA dataset and will allow researchers to specifically look at the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 on the brain.

There are no direct benefits to you for participating in the study. Your participation in the CLSA COVID-19 Brain Study will contribute to increasing our understanding of the effects of COVID-19 on cognitive and neural health. A better understanding is critical to the identification of those at risk and timely deployment of therapeutic approaches to mitigate the cognitive and neural consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Your participation in this research study will not involve any costs to you except the time that it takes you to take part completing the MRI appointment. You will be given $30 at your visit to put toward expenses such as parking or other travel-related expenses.

You should not have an MRI if you have any of the following items implanted in your body:

• Cardiac pacemaker, wires, or a defibrillator
• Metal fragment in the eye or orbit
• Brain aneurysm clip
• Stainless steel Intrauterine Device (IUD)
• Artificial heart valve
• Eye or ear implant
• Implanted drug infusion pump
• Shunt
• Electrical stimulator for nerves or bones
• Coil, catheter or filter in any blood vessel
• Orthopedic hardware (artificial joint, plate, screws, rods)
• Other metallic prosthesis
• Shrapnel, bullets, or other metallic fragments
• Stent

Participants who have any of the implants listed above cannot participate in the study.

You should also not have an MRI if you are pregnant or suffer from claustrophobia, or if a doctor has ever told you that you have experienced a stroke or CVA (cerebrovascular accident) or a ministroke or TIA (transient ischemic attack).

Recruitment is now complete.

The data collected are de-identified (meaning the data are connected to an ID number, not to your name or any other personal identifying information). The MRI scans are labelled with this ID (not with your name) at the MRI facility and then the images are sent to Calgary Image Processing and Analysis Centre (CIPAC) at the University of Calgary for review and long-term storage. The data associated with the scans, like all CLSA data, are kept on secure servers located at McMaster University.

No identifiable information will be shared with anyone outside of our stablished CLSA protocols. The CLSA will protect any information and images collected as we do for all other CLSA participant information.

Your agreement to participate in the CLSA COVID-19 Brain Study is entirely voluntary. Your decision to participate does not affect your participation in the CLSA study that you have participated since 2012-2015.

Please know that you can always contact us with any questions by emailing us at cogmob.research@hiphealth.ca or by telephone at 1-866-999-8303.

We recognize that as time passes circumstances can change and participants can face situations that have the potential to affect their participation. For that reason, we offer flexible participation, meaning that we provide you with options that accommodate your personal circumstances, including participation by web-based questionnaire.

The Supplemental Questionnaire is a 30-minute web-based survery that participants are invited to complete approximately two weeks after their telephone interview or Data Collection Site visit.

The Supplemental Questionnaire collects information on family history of disease and sexual health.

Despite an aging population, little is known about the sexuality of older adults. The purpose of this survey is to collect information about healthy sexuality in our population. The questions in the module are based on a review of sexual health questionnaires from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing, the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, and the National Institutes of Health’s Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System®.

A trained CLSA interviewer will come to your house. They will carry a CLSA identification badge and will call you in advance to make arrangements for the in-home visit at a convenient time.