Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study

COVID-19

SAFETY FIRST

  • When COVID-19 emerged in early 2020, the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study suspended all home visits.
  • In Spring of 2021, we resumed study visits with enhanced safety precautions to minimize risk of coronavirus infection to WSC staff and participants.
  • See below for information about our new COVID-19 precautions.

 

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COVID-19 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

STUDY PARTICIPANTS:

  • Wear a face mask at all times during the study (if you don’t have one, we can provide you with a disposable mask).
  • Crack the windows open where study activities take place.

 

OTHER MEMBERS OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD:

  • Wear a face mask at all times while in the same room as field staff

 

FIELD STAFF:

  • Wear a face mask, face shield, exam gloves at all times while in household

 

PHYSICAL DISTANCING:

  • When possible, we will maintain at least 6 ft distance between persons.
  • Some of our procedures require us to be physically close to you.
    • We will keep this time to a minimum.
    • When possible, we will position ourselves so that we are facing away from one another (for example, when we use a tape measure to record the circumference of your neck, waist, and hips).

 

EQUIPMENT AND SURFACES:

  • All equipment will be sanitized the day of the study, before and after use.
    • Our sanitizing wipes are CDC-approved for COVID-19.
  • We will use disposable barrier pads to protect your surfaces.

OVERVIEW OF MIDLIFE SLEEP STUDY PROCEDURES

  • Our home visits take 2-3 hours.
  • Midlife Sleep Study Field staff work in teams of 2 (1 technician, 1 assistant).
  • To assist with our instructions about study procedures, we will use videos on a portable device (face masks and shields can muffle our voices, making it challenging to communicate).
  • If at any point you are not comfortable with a procedure, please let us know and we can skip a section or discontinue.
  • Upon arriving at your home, team members will look for places to set up our equipment.
    • We need a 10-foot path for our walking test.
    • We prefer a hard floor surface to measure height and weight.
  • Please feel free to ask questions any time (before, during, or after the study). If you have questions prior to the study, please reach out to Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study lab manager, Amanda Rasmuson, at 608-265-5548 or arasmuson@wisc.edu.