TY - JOUR
AU - Dema, Emily
AU - Conolly, Anne
AU - Willis, Malachi
AU - Copas, Andrew J.
AU - Clifton, Soazig
AU - Blake, Margaret
AU - Riddell, Julie
AU - Bosó Pérez, Raquel
AU - Tanton, Clare
AU - Bonell, Chris
AU - Sonnenberg, Pam
AU - Mercer, Catherine H.
AU - Mitchell, Kirstin R.
AU - Field, Nigel
PY - 2022
DA - June
TI - Methodology of Natsal-COVID Wave 2: a large, quasi-representative, longitudinal survey measuring the impact of COVID-19 on sexual and reproductive health in Britain
JO - Wellcome Open Research
VL - 7 
IS - 166
DO - https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17850.1
AB - Background: The National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles COVID study (Natsal-COVID) was designed to understand the impact of COVID-19 on Britain’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Natsal-COVID Wave 1 survey and qualitative follow-up interviews were conducted in 2020. The Wave 2 survey was designed to capture one-year prevalence estimates for key SRH outcomes and measure changes over the first year of the pandemic. We describe the Wave 2 survey methodology and assess the sample representativeness. Methods: Natsal-COVID Wave 2 was conducted March-April 2021; approximately one year after the start of Britain’s first national lockdown. Data were collected using an online web-panel survey administered by Ipsos. The sample comprised a longitudinal sample of Wave 1 participants who had agreed to re-contact plus a sample of participants residing in Britain, aged 18-59, including a boost sample comprising people aged 18-29. Questions covered reproductive health, relationships, sexual behaviour and SRH service use. Quotas and weighting were used to achieve a quasi-representative sample of the British population. Comparisons were made with recent national probability surveys, Natsal-3 (2010-12) and Natsal-COVID Wave 1 to understand bias. Results: A total of 6,658 individuals completed the survey. In terms of gender, age, ethnicity, and rurality, the weighted Natsal-COVID Wave 2 sample was like the general population. Participants were less likely to be married or to report being in good health than the general population. The longitudinal sample (n=2,098) were broadly like participants who only took part in Wave 1 but were older. Among the sexually active, longitudinal participants were less likely to report multiple sexual partners or a new sexual partner in the past year compared to those who only took part in Wave 1. Conclusions: Natsal-COVID collected longitudinal, quasi-representative population data to enable evaluation of the population-level impact of COVID-19 on SRH and to inform policy.
PB - F1000 Research
UR - https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/272920/
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER