Protocol of the COVID-19 Health and Adherence Research in Scotland (CHARIS) study: understanding changes in adherence to transmission-reducing behaviours, mental and general health, in repeated cross-sectional representative survey of the Scottish population
,
Martine Stead,
Kate Hunt,
Peter Murchie,
Fiona Dobbie,
Chantal den Daas,
Gozde Ozakinci,
Marie Johnston,
Gill Hubbard,
Lisa Kidd,
Sally Wyke,
Mark Grindle,
Cindy Gray,
Trish Gorely,
Niamh Fitzgerald,
Diane Dixon,
Julia Allan,
Mioara Cristea,
Alive Davis,
Leanne Fleming,
Barbara Fraquharson,
Eileen Harkess-Murphy,
Robin Ion,
Terry Lansdown,
Leah Macaden,
Wendy Maltinsky,
Stewart Mercer,
Ronan O’Carroll,
Kate O’Donnell,
Amanda Pitkethly,
Kate Reid,
Dina Sidhva,
Mary E Stewart,
Debbie Tolson,
Catharine Ward Thompson
Affiliations
4Association of British Neurologists
Martine Stead
deputy director
Kate Hunt
Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
Peter Murchie
Academic Primary Care, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
Fiona Dobbie
The University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Edinburgh, UK
Chantal den Daas
Institute of Applied Health Sciences, Health Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
Gozde Ozakinci
Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
Marie Johnston
Institute of Applied Health Sciences, Health Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
Gill Hubbard
1 Nursing and Midwifery, University of the Highlands and Islands, Inverness, UK
Lisa Kidd
Nursing & Community Health, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK
Sally Wyke
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Mark Grindle
Institute for Health Research and Innovation, University of the Highlands and Islands, Inverness, Highland, UK
Cindy Gray
5 Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Trish Gorely
Niamh Fitzgerald
Institute for Social Marketing, UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, School of Health Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
Diane Dixon
Institute of Applied Health Sciences, Health Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
Julia Allan
Mioara Cristea
Alive Davis
Leanne Fleming
University Of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Barbara Fraquharson
Eileen Harkess-Murphy
Robin Ion
Terry Lansdown
Leah Macaden
The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Wendy Maltinsky
Stewart Mercer
3Institute of Health and Wellbeing, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Ronan O’Carroll
Kate O’Donnell
Amanda Pitkethly
Kate Reid
School of Health Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Introduction COVID-19 has unprecedented consequences on population health, with governments worldwide issuing stringent public health directives. In the absence of a vaccine, a key way to control the pandemic is through behavioural change: people adhering to transmission-reducing behaviours (TRBs), such as physical distancing, hand washing and wearing face covering. Non-adherence may be explained by theories of how people think about the illness (the common-sense model of self-regulation) and/or how they think about the TRBs (social cognition theory and protection motivation theory). In addition, outbreaks of infectious diseases and the measures employed to curb them are likely to have detrimental effects on people’s mental and general health. Therefore, in representative repeated surveys, we will apply behavioural theories to model adherence to TRBs and the effects on mental and general health in the Scottish population from June to November 2020, following the initial outbreak of COVID-19.Methods and analysis Repeated 20 min structured telephone surveys will be conducted with nationally representative random samples of 500 adults in Scotland. The first 6 weeks the survey will be conducted weekly, thereafter fortnightly, for a total of 14 waves (total n=7000). Ipsos MORI will recruit participants through random digit dialling. The core survey will measure the primary outcomes of adherence to TRBs, mental and general health, and explanatory variables from the theories. Further questions will be added, enabling more detailed measurement of constructs in the core survey, additional themes and questions that align with the evolving pandemic.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Life Sciences and Medicine College Ethics Review Board (CERB) at the University of Aberdeen (CERB/2020/5/1942). Results will be made available to policy makers, funders, interested lay people and other researchers through weekly reports and three bimonthly bulletins placed on the CHARIS website and advertised through social media.
