Project Description
The goal of this study is to understand the symptoms and severe outcomes of medically-attended respiratory infections caused by human metapneumovirus, parainfluenza virus, adenovirus, and other respiratory pathogens, in adults with underlying high-risk conditions. We propose to conduct a population-based study characterizing clinical presentation and severe outcomes after medically-attended respiratory infections (MAARI) in high-risk adults. This work will help to inform clinical practice and further contextualize the burden of respiratory infections among high-risk adults in the US. The objectives of this study are as follows. In high-risk adults with a medically-attended acute respiratory illness: Identify sociodemographic determinants potentially related to disease symptoms and outcomes; Identify demographic risk factors for disease; Investigate illness presentation, including types of symptoms and severity of the disease; Identify medications prescribed directly after MAARI, and investigate relationships between prescriptions and underlying health status. We will analyze data from an observational study to examine the characteristics of non-influenza, non-RSV medically-attended acute respiratory infections (MAARI) in high-risk adults. This analysis will incorporate data already collected from adult Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS) patients who were study participants in a test-negative design study to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness from 2015-16 through 2019-20 winter seasons.
Tasks and Responsibilites
Analytical procedures will be conducted using STATA BE Version 18.5 or similar statistical software. Descriptive statistics will be performed to acquire the mean, standard deviations, medians, interquartile ranges, and proportions (as appropriate) of demographic characteristics and outcomes. In primary analyses, univariate tests such as chi-squared analyses, ANOVA, and t-tests may be used to compare demographic characteristics among individuals with and without non-influenza, non-RSV respiratory pathogens. In a similar fashion, secondary analyses will use univariate analyses to investigate relationships between respiratory pathogens and illness presentation and outcomes.
Desired Qualifications
None Listed.