Estimation of the number of COVID-19 cases in Quebec
The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), in partnership with the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS), is conducting a survey to monitor trends in SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory virus infections as well as preventive behaviours, lifestyle habits, and mental health among the adult population of Quebec.
Who can take part in this survey?
This survey is open to all adult Quebecers who have received an email invitation to participate.
What are the objectives of the survey?
The data collected in this survey will play a critical role in informing public health policy and decision-making.
The survey responses will be used to:
- Measure changes in the incidence of respiratory infections (COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses) in the adult population of Quebec over a given time period
- Assess the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on the health of the adult population
- Explore the perceptions, attitudes, and preventive behaviours of the adult population of Quebec with regard to respiratory infections
- Document social contacts in different environments and other indicators required to create mathematical models of respiratory virus infections
- Monitor the lifestyle habits and mental health of the adult population of Quebec
The project
The INSPQ is conducting an online survey, first launched in April 2022, to estimate the number of COVID-19 cases among the general adult population of Quebec. This survey has proven useful for tracking changes in the epidemiological situation of SARS-CoV-2 and of respiratory viruses (syndromic approach) since April 2023.
The key indicators monitored are incidence (number of new cases) of confirmed COVID-19 infections (rapid test or PCR test) and the incidence of acute respiratory infections (which may include influenza and other respiratory viruses, in addition to COVID-19), based on the symptoms reported by survey participants. Data is also collected on the ongoing health impact of COVID-19, prevention-related behaviours and attitudes, lifestyle habits, and mental health. The data on social contacts is used to create mathematical models without establishing a specific indicator.
Why does my participation matter?
Your participation in this project is voluntary, but important, as it will enable the MSSS to monitor the evolution of respiratory infections, including COVID-19, and their consequences.
It also allows the MSSS to monitor lifestyle habits and mental health in order to implement appropriate health promotion and chronic disease prevention strategies.
Having as many participants as possible will ensure reliable, high-quality data and a more accurate, representative picture of respiratory infections in the population.
Reminder message
The initial email invitation is sent out Sunday at noon. You will then have seven days to complete the questionnaire (in other words, the survey closes the following Saturday at 11:59 p.m.). If you do not complete the short questionnaire within three days of the first message, you will receive an automatic reminder. Again, your participation is voluntary.
How did you get my contact information?
The personal information required for the epidemiological investigation, including your contact information, was obtained from the MSSS using information collected by the Clic Santé appointment services provider to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments. Your information is made available for the epidemiological investigation led by the National Director of Public Health to monitor COVID-19 and is subject to the provisions of the Public Health Act (CQLR, chapter A2.2). Only a few INSPQ employees have access, and their use is restricted to participant selection and data analysis. They are bound by the provisions of the Act respecting health and social services information in addition to a confidentiality and privacy agreement signed at their time of hiring.
How are participants selected?
Every two weeks, 60,000 people aged 18 and over are randomly selected from information provided by the Clic Santé service provider to take part in this study, which then provides an estimated number of COVID-19 cases in Quebec for the seven days preceding the first email. Your email will include a link to the online survey (you will then be directed to the Voxco website), which you will have seven days to complete. As this study is ongoing, you may be invited to participate more than once. As this study is ongoing, you may be invited to participate more than once.
What should I do if I am not the intended recipient of the survey?
The invitations are sent to the email address listed in the Clic Santé file of each person selected. If the message is not addressed to you, because, for example, you made a vaccine appointment for another person, please forward the message to the intended recipient. It is important that the selected person be the one to complete the questionnaire, as they were chosen based on sampling criteria to ensure a representative sample of the population.
What should I do if I receive a “Connection is not secure” error message?
You may receive a “Connection is not secure” error message when you click on the survey link. This is a security measure used by some email providers.
We suggest that you copy and paste the survey link into a web browser instead of clicking on it directly. This should take you to the survey without issue. The questionnaire works best on Google Chrome and Firefox web browsers.
You can also manually type out the address in your web browser.
How can I be sure this is a legitimate survey from the INSPQ?
You can contact the team responsible for the project at the following institutional email address: [email protected]. We will respond during our office hours, which are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Can I do the survey over the phone or by post?
Unfortunately, the survey is only available online. We are unable to contact you by phone.
Why are you collecting data on my education level and the number of people in my household?
This data is used for weighting to make the survey sample representative of the adult population of Quebec. The data on the number of people in a household and their ages is used to target only those with children who belong to specific age groups for certain questions, such as the occurrence of COVID-19 infections in the past seven days.
How will the information I provide be used?
Since August 24, 2022, the results of these surveys have been published on the INSPQ website, with updates scheduled every second Wednesday. You can view these results at the following links [available in French only]:
What is the INSPQ’s privacy policy?
Your participation and responses remain strictly confidential. It is not possible to identify any participating individual in the analysis or publication of the results.
Your participation is free and voluntary. You are also free to stop answering the questionnaire without consequence. By completing the questionnaire, you consent to participate in this study.
Use of data
The data collected will be processed by statistical methods to estimate the number of cases of COVID-19 in Quebec. Your email address, phone number, and name will be stored on the INSPQ’s secure servers. Your name will not be mentioned in any report or publication. The results of this study will be used solely for health monitoring purposes and to monitor preventive behaviours, as well as to track the consequences of the pandemic on the mental and physical health of the population of Quebec.
The collected data will be kept for five years.
How can I obtain more information?
For further information, please send any questions to [email protected] and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.