3.1.4. Testing Adherence
Adherence could be meaningfully determined for students in their first year who had participated in the P-ATS, as they were the target population and had all been offered the full P-ATS provision (testing provision for final year and staff was individualised, so highly variable). Reported adherence to testing related to COVID was relatively high among first year students. Of the first-year survey respondents who had participated in P-ATS (n = 65), 70.8% (n = 46) submitted all 10 swab tests in weeks 1–10 (full swab provision), and 93.9% (n = 61) submitted 5 or more swabs (at least half the swab provision). With regard to saliva samples only, 89.2% (n = 58) of first years completed one or more samples, and 16.9% (n = 11) completed two or more saliva samples. For both types of test combined, 92.3% (n = 60) completed 6 or more tests, and 47.7% (n = 31) completed all 12 tests (10× swab, 2× saliva). Reported PCR test completion is provided in Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5 for the first year P-ATS participants (n = 65). The change from swab test to saliva sample was initiated at week 10 of 12, in preparation for alignment with deployment of the main university testing service. Engagement willingness may be underestimated from the number of tests completed, due to brief period of test kit stock depletion during the study period.
As would be expected, due to a longer period in the P-ATS, first-year students completed significantly more PCR tests than final-year students during the pilot: Xfirst year = 10.13, SD = 2.82, n= 65; Xfinal year= 2.68, SD = 1.12, n = 28; t (91) = 12.51, p < 0.001. Figure 4 stratifies these reported frequencies across year groups. Across the whole sample (n = 93), reported adherence to PCR testing was significantly higher in those who had been required to self-isolate at any point during the P-ATS (Xself-isolate= 9.03, SD= 2.98, n = 34; Xno self-isolate= 7.15, SD = 4.82, n = 59; t (91) = 2.19, p = 0.031, Xdifference: 1.99), and those with lower levels of anxiety (Xlow anxiety = 8.70, SD = 4.24, n = 64; Xhigh anxiety = 6.07, SD = 3.99, n = 29; t (91) = −2.83, p = 0.006). Adherence to PCR testing was also higher in those students who lived on campus (n = 63) compared with those who lived elsewhere (X = 10.15on campus, SD = 2.67, n = 61; Xoff campus = 3.56, SD = 2.99, n = 32; t(91) = −10.14, p < 0.001), although this is not unexpected, given that almost all of the on-campus students were in their first year (n = 62) and were offered the full 12 weeks of P-ATS. Among the first-year students specifically (n = 65), adherence to PCR testing was significantly higher in those with lower levels of anxiety (Xlow anxiety = 10.71, SD = 2.47, n = 48; Xhigh anxiety = 8.47, SD = 3.14, n = 17; t (63) = −2.98, p = 0.004).
With regards antibody tests, 76.9% (n = 50) of first-year students reported completing three or more of the six tests offered during the P-ATS, and 41.5% (n = 27) of first-year students completed all six tests. Figure 5 stratifies these reported frequencies across year groups.