Feasibility of digital contact tracing in low-income settings – pilot trial for a location-based DCT app

BMC Public Health

Research

Thomas Grünewald¹  Eric Handmann²  André Gries²  Davidetta Parker³  Sia Wata Camanor³  Mosoka P. Fallah⁴  Neima Candy⁴ 

[1] Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine and Department for Hospital and Environmental Hygiene, Klinikum Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany;Department for Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany;JFK Hospital, Monrovia, Liberia;National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), Monrovia, Liberia;

关键词: App;    Digital contact tracing;    Low income;    GPS tracking;    Location based;    Public health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-022-14888-x

 received in 2022-07-10, accepted in 2022-12-16,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundData about the effectiveness of digital contact tracing are based on studies conducted in countries with predominantly high- or middle-income settings. Up to now, little research is done to identify specific problems for the implementation of such technique in low-income countries.MethodsA Bluetooth-assisted GPS location-based digital contact tracing (DCT) app was tested by 141 participants during 14 days in a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia in February 2020. The DCT app was compared to a paper-based reference system. Hits between participants and 10 designated infected participants were recorded simultaneously by both methods. Additional data about GPS and Bluetooth adherence were gathered and surveys to estimate battery consumption and app adherence were conducted. DCT apps accuracy was evaluated in different settings.ResultsGPS coordinates from 101/141 (71.6%) participants were received. The number of hours recorded by the participants during the study period, true Hours Recorded (tHR), was 496.3 h (1.1% of maximum Hours recordable) during the study period. With the paper-based method 1075 hits and with the DCT app five hits of designated infected participants with other participants have been listed. Differences between true and maximum recording times were due to failed permission settings (45%), data transmission issues (11.3%), of the participants 10.1% switched off GPS and 32.5% experienced other technical or compliance problems.In buildings, use of Bluetooth increased the accuracy of the DCT app (GPS + BT 22.9 m ± 21.6 SD vs. GPS 60.9 m ± 34.7 SD; p = 0.004). GPS accuracy in public transportation was 10.3 m ± 10.05 SD with a significant (p = 0.007) correlation between precision and phone brand. GPS resolution outdoors was 10.4 m ± 4.2 SD.ConclusionIn our study several limitations of the DCT together with the impairment of GPS accuracy in urban settings impede the solely use of a DCT app. It could be feasible as a supplement to traditional manual contact tracing.DKRS, DRKS00029327. Registered 20 June 2020 - Retrospectively registered.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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