Generalizability of anti–SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence estimates to the Montréal pediatric population: a comparison between 2 weighting methods

Seroprevalence studies of SARS-CoV-2 infections often have been based on study populations with nonrandom and nonrepresentative samples, limiting the generalizability of their results. In this study, the representativity and the generalizability of the baseline estimate (data collected from October 16, 2020, to April 18, 2021) of a pediatric seroprevalence study based in Montréal were investigated. The change in the estimates of seroprevalence were compared between 2 different weighting methods: marginal standardization and raking. The target population was the general pediatric population of Montréal, based on 2016 Canadian census data. Study results show variation across the multiple weighting scenarios. Although both weighting methods performed similarly, each possesses its own strengths and weaknesses. However, raking was preferred for its capacity to simultaneously weight for multiple underrepresented study population characteristics.