Participant Engagement in a National Longitudinal Study of COVID-19: Insights From the INSPIRE Study
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-22-2025
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine participants' motivations and their experiences throughout a decentralized, longitudinal COVID-19 study in the U.S.
METHODS: We recruited 355 participants from the Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry (INSPIRE) between November 2022 - March 2023 to answer five qualitative survey questions anonymously. We used an inductive content analysis approach to analyze the data.
RESULTS: We identified five key themes from the analysis, which reflected participants' a) motivations to join the study, b) study benefits, c) perceptions of survey questions, d) experiences with the research process, and e) preferences for disseminating research findings. Participants were motivated to learn with researchers about COVID-19. They expressed divided opinions about the relevance of INSPIRE research questions. They reported difficulties navigating the virtual research platform and the need for making survey participation less cognitively demanding. They sought more regular feedback on study findings.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings offered insights into incorporating decentralized participatory methods in longitudinal research, strengthening reciprocal research communications, making virtual research platforms user-friendly, and employing strategies to reduce participants' cognitive burden in research.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS: Longitudinal studies should focus on optimizing these aspects of participant engagement to produce rigorous findings that inform policy and practice on lasting effects of COVID-19 including Long COVID.
Recommended Citation
Ma, Kris Pui Kwan; Stober, Tracy; Gottlieb, Michael; Geyer, Rachel E.; Rising, Kristin L.; Saydah, Sharon; Santangelo, Michelle; Gatling, Kristyn; Grau, Dylan; Wang, Ralph C.; Montoy, Juan Carlos; Idris, Ahamed; MacDonald, Samuel; Hill, Mandy J.; Huebinger, Ryan; Prado, Maria G.; Gentile, Nicole L.; Spatz, Erica; Maliki, Caitlin; Dorney, Jocelyn; Elmore, Joann G.; L'Hommedieu, Michelle; Weinstein, Robert A; Venkatesh, Arjun K.; and Stephens, Kari A., "Participant Engagement in a National Longitudinal Study of COVID-19: Insights From the INSPIRE Study" (2025). Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers. Paper 268.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/emfp/268
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 License.
PubMed ID
40694553
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author’s final published version in PLOS ONE, Volume 20, Issue 7, 2025, Article number e0325948.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325948. This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.