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Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, new digital solutions have been developed for infection control. In particular, contact tracing mobile apps provide a means for governments to manage both health and economic concerns. However, public reception of these apps is paramount to their success, and global uptake rates have been low. Objective In this study, we sought to identify the characteristics of individuals or factors potentially associated with voluntary downloads of a contact tracing mobile app in Singapore. Methods A cohort of 505 adults from the general community completed an online survey. As the primary outcome measure, participants were asked to indicate whether they had downloaded the contact tracing app TraceTogether introduced at the national level. The following were assessed as predictor variables: (1) participant demographics, (2) behavioral modifications on account of the pandemic, and (3) pandemic severity (the number of cases and lockdown status). Results Within our data set, the strongest predictor of the uptake of TraceTogether was the extent to which individuals had already adjusted their lifestyles because of the pandemic (z=13.56; P<.001). Network analyses revealed that uptake was most related to the following: using hand sanitizers, avoiding public transport, and preferring outdoor over indoor venues during the pandemic. However, demographic and situational characteristics were not significantly associated with app downloads. Conclusions Efforts to introduce contact tracing apps could capitalize on pandemic-related behavioral adjustments among individuals. Given that a large number of individuals is required to download contact tracing apps for contact tracing to be effective, further studies are required to understand how citizens respond to contact tracing apps. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04468581, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04468581

Sleep deprivation alters decision making; however, it is unclear what specific cognitive processes are modified to drive altered choices. In this manuscript, we examined how one night of total sleep deprivation (TSD) alters economic decision making. We specifically examined changes in uncertainty preferences dissociably from changes in the strategy with which participants engage with presented choice information. With high test-retest reliability, we show that TSD does not alter uncertainty preferences or loss aversion. Rather, TSD alters the information the participants rely upon to make their choices. Utilizing a choice strategy metric which contrasts the influence of maximizing and satisficing information on choice behavior, we find that TSD alters the relative reliance on maximizing information and satisficing information, in the gains domain. This alteration is the result of participants both decreasing their reliance on cognitively-complex maximizing information and a concomitant increase in the use of readily-available satisficing information. TSD did not result in a decrease in overall information use in either domain. These results show that sleep deprivation alters decision making by altering the informational strategies that participants employ, without altering their preferences.

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