Cohort profile: Actionable Register of Geneva Outpatients and inpatients with SARS-CoV-2 (ARGOS)

  1. Camille Genecand
  2. Denis Mongin
  3. Flora Koegler
  4. Dan Lebowitz
  5. Simon Regard
  6. Jean-Luc Falcone
  7. Mayssam Nehme
  8. Olivia Braillard
  9. Marwène Grira
  10. Dominique Joubert
  11. Pierre Chopard
  12. Elisabeth Delaporte
  13. Jérôme Stirnemann
  14. Idris Guessous
  15. Aglaé Tardin
  16. Delphine S Courvoisier

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Abstract

The Actionable Register of Geneva Outpatients and inpatients with SARS-CoV-2 (ARGOS) is an ongoing prospective cohort created by the Geneva Directorate of Health. It consists of an operational database compiling all SARS-CoV-2 test results recorded in the Geneva area since late February 2020. This article aims at presenting this comprehensive cohort, in light of some of the varying public health measures in Geneva, Switzerland, since March 2020.

Participants

As of 1 June 2021, the database included 360 525 patients, among which 65 475 had at least one positive test result for SARS-CoV-2. Among all positive patients, 37.6% were contacted only once, 10.6% had one follow-up call, 8.5% had two and 27.7% had three or more follow-up calls. Participation rate among positive patients is 94%. Data collection is ongoing.

Findings to date

ARGOS data illustrates the magnitude of COVID-19 pandemic in Geneva, Switzerland, and details a variety of population factors and outcomes. The content of the cohort includes demographic data, comorbidities and risk factors for poor clinical outcome, self-reported COVID-19 symptoms, environmental and socioeconomic factors, prospective and retrospective contact tracing data, travel quarantine data and deaths. The registry has already been used in several publications focusing on symptoms and long COVID-19, infection fatality rate and re-infection.

Future plans

The data of this large real-world registry provides a valuable resource for various types of research, such as clinical research, epidemiological research or policy assessment as it illustrates the impact of public health policies and overall disease burden of COVID-19.

Article activity feed

  1. Version published to 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-048946
  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.05.24.21256813v2 on medRxiv
  3. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.05.24.21256813: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: The state of Geneva accounts for half a million residents and the local Directorate of Health ordered the recording of all COVID-19 positive cases since the beginning of the epidemic, according to recommendations from the Federal Office of Public Health. Due to this policy, the database’s main strength consists of its large number of cases, representative of all diagnosed cases on a regional level primarily serving operational needs and not scientific purposes, with one main objective: assessing all cases. This cohort is also multicentric as it includes all tests performed in Geneva’s hospitals (both public and private), private practices and medical centers. The fact that a very large proportion of all cases are assessed reduces the risk of biased data. Also, as data is recorded on the day of the call to the patient, recall bias is very low. Finally, the ARGOS3 database is characterized by a high number of follow-ups. Despite these strengths, ARGOS has been influenced by the testing policy and the results must be seen in light of these influences. First, individuals without risk factors for COVID-19 and those younger than 65 years old are underrepresented in the database during the testing restriction period. The shapes of the graphics in Figure 1 and 2 confirm the impact of this policy as there is a sudden decrease in number of cases after March 20, 2020, when restriction started. Other factors could have amplified this phenomenon such as less sym...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

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  4. Version published to 10.1101/2021.05.24.21256813v1 on medRxiv