{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T08:27:27Z","timestamp":1791448047585,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,25]],"date-time":"2023-05-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1684972800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008530","name":"European Regional Development Fund","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ZW7-85152953"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZW7-85152953"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008530","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background\/aims<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic situation poses new challenges for research. Ethical issues might arise if especially vulnerable individuals for severe COVID-19 course expose themselves because of participation in studies to a higher risk of infection for study purposes. How is the feasibility and acceptance of self-organized blood sample collections to measure anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike IgG antibodies in persons with a high risk for a severe COVID-19 disease progression?<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Persons with a high risk for a severe COVID-19 disease progression (immunocompromised, oncology patients or over 80 years old) were recruited between January and September 2021 to send in blood samples (at least 500 \u03bcl) 1 month and 6 months after second COVID-19 vaccination. Participants were given the choice of drawing capillary or venous blood themselves or having blood drawn by health professionals belonging to either the study\u2019s own research team or the personnel found in local practices or clinics. Participants were surveyed via a telephone interview in December 2021 and January 2022 about their choice of blood sampling methods and influence of blood collection choice upon study participation.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Data from 360 participants was collected via telephone follow-up. First blood samples were collected by the participants themselves (35.8%), local practices or clinics (31.9%) and the research team (22.5%). Second blood samples were mostly collected in local practices or clinics (35.6%) followed by participants themselves (25.9%) and the research team (11.5%). Blood samples were not collected in 2.5% and 19.1% of persons during first and second blood draw, respectively. Only 2% of blood samples did not reach the laboratory or were not analyzable. About one-fourth (26%) of participants stated that they would not have participated in the study if it would have been required to travel to the university hospital to give their blood sample.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Participants were able to self-organize blood collection, making use of several different blood sample methods. Nearly all blood samples were analyzable when self-collected and sent in by post. One-fourth of the participants would not have participated in the study if required to give their blood sample in the study location.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Trial registration<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>German Clinical Trial Registry, <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" ext-link-type=\"uri\" xlink:href=\"https:\/\/drks.de\/search\/en\/trial\/DRKS00021152\" xlink:type=\"simple\">DRKS00021152<\/jats:ext-link>.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0286014","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,25]],"date-time":"2023-05-25T17:27:16Z","timestamp":1685035636000},"page":"e0286014","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Feasibility of self-organized blood sample collection in adults for study purposes in a primary care setting"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3564-4725","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Dominik","family":"Schr\u00f6der","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Frank","family":"M\u00fcller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gloria","family":"Heesen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eva","family":"Hummers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandra","family":"Dopfer-Jablonka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9713-4595","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kai","family":"Vahldiek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Frank","family":"Klawonn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sandra","family":"Steffens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marie","family":"Mikuteit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jacqueline","family":"Niewolik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephanie","family":"Heinemann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0286014.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e068302","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj-2021-068302","article-title":"Effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"375","author":"S Talic","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1177\/2347631120983481","article-title":"A Literature Review on Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Teaching and Learning","volume":"8","author":"S Pokhrel","year":"2021","journal-title":"Higher Education for the Future"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref003","article-title":"The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on child and adolescent mental health: systematic review","author":"U Panchal","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2019617118","article-title":"Retrospective analysis of the Italian exit strategy from COVID-19 lockdown","volume":"118","author":"V Marziano","year":"2021","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cmrp.2020.03.011","article-title":"Effects of COVID-19 pandemic in daily life","volume":"10","author":"A Haleem","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr Med Res Pract"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0255524","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0255524","article-title":"In-hospital mortality among immunosuppressed patients with COVID-19: Analysis from a national cohort in Spain","volume":"16","author":"I Su\u00e1rez-Garc\u00eda","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1742","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-020-09826-8","article-title":"COVID-19 mortality risk for older men and women","volume":"20","author":"ND Yanez","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"782","DOI":"10.1002\/ijc.33846","article-title":"Cancer and the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 diagnosis, hospitalisation and death: A population-based multistate cohort study including 4 618 377 adults in Catalonia, Spain","volume":"150","author":"E Roel","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Cancer"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1515\/labmed-2020-0090","article-title":"Analysis of blood index characteristics in COVID-19 patients and their associations with different outcomes","volume":"45","author":"X Xu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Journal of Laboratory Medicine"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0252617","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0252617","article-title":"Global seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"16","author":"N Bobrovitz","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1177\/00045632211004995","article-title":"The use of whole blood capillary samples to measure 15 analytes for a home-collect biochemistry service during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: A proposed model from North West London Pathology","volume":"58","author":"S Ansari","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ann Clin Biochem"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30501","DOI":"10.11613\/BM.2021.030501","article-title":"Complete blood count alterations in COVID-19 patients: A narrative review","volume":"31","author":"M. Palladino","year":"2021","journal-title":"Biochem Med (Zagreb)"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1186\/s13643-021-01689-3","article-title":"A systematic and meta-analysis review on the diagnostic accuracy of antibodies in the serological diagnosis of COVID-19","volume":"10","author":"A Vengesai","year":"2021","journal-title":"Syst Rev"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"878","DOI":"10.3126\/nje.v10i3.31622","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 on clinical trials and clinical research: A systematic review","volume":"10","author":"B Sathian","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nepal J Epidemiol"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e19471","DOI":"10.2196\/19471","article-title":"Willingness to Use Home Collection Methods to Provide Specimens for SARS-CoV-2\/COVID-19 Research: Survey Study","volume":"22","author":"EW Hall","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7754","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-86008-5","article-title":"Self-sampling of capillary blood for SARS-CoV-2 serology","volume":"11","author":"L Brown","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0255841","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0255841","article-title":"Self-collection of capillary blood using Tasso-SST devices for Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody testing","volume":"16","author":"T Hendelman","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref018","unstructured":"World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on drawing blood:. best practices in phlebotomy.; 2010."},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"403","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-022-07347-w","article-title":"SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses in elderly and immunosuppressed participants and patients with hematologic disease or checkpoint inhibition in solid tumors: study protocol of the prospective, observational CoCo immune study","volume":"22","author":"A Dopfer-Jablonka","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"288","DOI":"10.1080\/00325481.2020.1717160","article-title":"Blood volume and pain perception during finger prick capillary blood sampling: are all safety lancets equal","volume":"132","author":"A Serafin","year":"2020","journal-title":"Postgrad Med"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"614436","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2021.614436","article-title":"Longitudinal Profiling of Antibody Response in Patients With COVID-19 in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Beijing, China","volume":"12","author":"X Feng","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Immunol"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0263627","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0263627","article-title":"Longitudinal profile of antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with COVID-19 in a setting from Sub-Saharan Africa: A prospective longitudinal study","volume":"17","author":"T Gebrecherkos","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0272874","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0272874","article-title":"Longitudinal change in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in 3-to 16-year-old children: The Augsburg Plus study","volume":"17","author":"V Leone","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"423","DOI":"10.1038\/s41564-021-01051-2","article-title":"Longitudinal analysis of antibody dynamics in COVID-19 convalescents reveals neutralizing responses up to 16 months after infection","volume":"7","author":"Y Yang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat Microbiol"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e056370","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2021-056370","article-title":"Temporal trends and differences of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses in symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects: a longitudinal study from Umbria in Italy","volume":"12","author":"I Abraha","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"pone.0286014.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1470","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913-022-08787-5","article-title":"At-home blood self-sampling in rheumatology: a qualitative study with patients and health care professionals","volume":"22","author":"F Muehlensiepen","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMC Health Serv Res"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0286014","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,25]],"date-time":"2023-05-25T17:27:42Z","timestamp":1685035662000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0286014"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Kovy","family":"Arteaga-Livias","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,25]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,25]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0286014","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,25]]}}}