Understanding Society COVID-19 Study
- Submitting institution
-
The University of Essex
- Unit of assessment
- 2 - Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care
- Output identifier
- 3216
- Type
- S - Research data sets and databases
- DOI
-
10.5255/UKDA-SN-8644-7
- Location
- UK
- Month
- May
- Year
- 2020
- URL
-
https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8644
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
1
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study was the first of the UK longitudinal studies to design, administer, implement and deposit a COVID-19 survey of its participants. The questionnaires were designed to cover the core topics needed to understand the pandemic and its health, and wider societal impacts. Thus the questionnaires included content to assess household composition, coronavirus illness, longer term health conditions, management and health care use, mental health and well-being, as well as a wide range of social and economic factors. The first COVID-19 datasets, which contain information from over 17,000 participants at the end of April, were deposited within a month of data collection. At least, three external publications on the impact on mental health were published within a week of data release. The datasets have been used widely to create scientific outputs both from within the Unit resulting in 5 publications, and also externally with over 60 publications from researchers across the UK. There has been significant use of the data on mental health in influential reviews, for example, the IFS Deaton Review impact of COVID-19 on inequalities and the Academy of Medicine Report on the challenges of COVID-19 for winter months. The data and evidence on the impact of the pandemic and social restrictions on carers was also a feature of the early months, with a number of caring charities and pressure groups using the data to highlight the significant burden on them and the strain on their health. Evidence from the Study has been used directly by policy makers for policy, for example by the scientific advisory group for emergencies. Public Health England is using the datasets to monitor mental health through the pandemic and Understanding Society is part of the Longitudinal Health & Wealth national core studies directly informing Sir Patrick Vallance.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
