Participant Demographics and Testing Trends: A Community Pandemic Response Program

ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify demographic characteristics of test participants and changes in testing participation over time in a community pandemic-response program launched in a college town in California, USA. MethodsWe described overall testing participation, identified demographic characteristics of frequent testers, and evaluated changes in testing participation over four different periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. ResultsA total of 770,165 tests were performed between November 18, 2020, and June 30, 2022, among 89,924 residents of Yolo County (41.1% of population), with significant participation from racially/ethnically diverse participants and across age groups. Most positive cases (49.9%) were captured during Omicron, which also corresponds to the period with the highest daily participation (895 per 100K population). The proportion of participants which we considered "frequent testers" (28.9% vs. 39.7%, p < 0.0001) and individuals that tested once (39.5% vs. 47.9%, p < 0.0001) increased significantly from Delta to Omicron. Women (58.8%), participants of age 19-34 years (38.8%), and White (53.2%) tested more frequently throughout the program. The proportion of tests conducted among Latinos remained steady around 18% over time, with the exception of the post-Omicron period (13%). ConclusionThe unique features of a pandemic response program that supported communitywide access to free asymptomatic testing provides a unique opportunity to evaluate adherence to testing recommendations, and testing trends over time. Identification of individual and group-level factors associated with testing behaviors is essential to improve access and protect communities at-large.