Cohort Profile: Real-Time Insights of COVID-19 in India (RTI COVID-India)

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic caused disruption globally and was particularly distressing in low- and middle-income countries such as India.

This study aimed to provide population representative estimates of COVID-related outcomes in India over time and characterize how COVID-related changes and impacts differ by key socioeconomic groups across the life course.

METHODS: The sample was leveraged from an existing nationally representative study on cognition and dementia in India: Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD).

The wave-1 of LASI-DAD enrolled 4096 older adults aged 60 years and older in 3316 households from 18 states and union territories of India.

Out of the 3316 LASI-DAD households, 2704 with valid phone numbers were contacted and invited to participate in the Real-Time Insights COVID-19 in India (RTI COVID-India) study.

RTI COVID-India was a bi-monthly phone survey that provided insight into the individual’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour towards COVID-19 and changes in the household’s economic and health conditions throughout the pandemic.

The survey was started in May 2020 and 9 rounds of data have been collected.

FINDINGS TILL DATE: Out of the 2704 LASI-DAD households with valid phone numbers, 1766 households participated in the RTI COVID-India survey at least once.

Participants were in the age range of 18–102 years, 49% were female, 66% resided in rural area.

Across all rounds, there was a higher report of infection among respondents aged 60–69 years.

There was a greater prevalence of COVID-19 diagnosis reported in urban (23.0%) compared to rural areas (9.8%).

Respondents with higher education had a greater prevalence of COVID-19 diagnosis compared to those with lower or no formal education.

Highest prevalence of COVID-19 diagnosis was reported from high economic status compared to middle and low economic status households.

Comparing education gradients in experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and being diagnosed, we observe an opposite pattern: respondents with no formal schooling reported the highest level of experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, whereas the greatest proportion of the respondents with secondary school or higher education reported being diagnosed with COVID-19.

FUTURE PLANS: The study group will analyse the data collected showing the real-time changes throughout the pandemic and will make the data widely available for researchers to conduct further studies.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-15084-1.