An Evaluation of Provincial Infectious Disease Surveillance Reports in Ontario

Chan, Ellen; Barnes, Morgan; Sharif, Omar

doi:10.1097/phh.0000000000000517

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 3 publications

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“…ThaiEpidemics is similar to the CDC TravWell app, which is useful for international travel by providing generic information about global health safety information [25]. One study in Ontario found that situation awareness could be achieved from the data sources in disease surveillance reports [32]. In the present study, we developed ThaiEpidemics using national disease surveillance reports, which are updated weekly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-platform mobile app development for disseminating public health information to travelers in Thailand: development and usability

Meankaew

Lawpoolsri

Piyaphanee

et al. 2022

Trop Dis Travel Med Vaccines

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Background The risk of disease is a key factor that travelers have identified when planning to travel abroad, as many people are concerned about getting sick. Mobile devices can be an effective means for travelers to access information regarding disease prevalence in their planned destinations, potentially reducing the risk of exposure. Methods We developed a mobile app, ThaiEpidemics, using cross-platform technology to provide information about disease prevalence and status for travelers to Thailand. We aimed to assess the app’s usability in terms of engagement, search logs, and effectiveness among target users. The app was developed using the principle of mobile application development life cycle, for both iOS and Android. As its data source, the app used weekly data from national disease-surveillance reports. We conduced our study among visitors to the Travel Clinic in the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. The participants were informed that the app would collect usage and search logs related to their queries. After the second log-in, the app prompted participants to complete an e-survey regarding their opinions and preferences related to their awareness of disease prevalence and status. Results We based our prototype of ThaiEpidemics on a conceptualized framework for visualizing the distribution of 14 major diseases of concern to tourists in Southeast Asia. The app provided users with functions and features to search for and visualize disease prevalence and status in Thailand. The participants could access information for their current location and elsewhere in the country. In all, 83 people installed the app, and 52 responded to the e-survey. Regardless of age, education, and continent of origin, almost all e-survey respondents believed the app had raised their awareness of disease prevalence and status when travelling. Most participants searched for information for all 14 diseases; some searched for information specifically about dengue and malaria. Conclusions ThaiEpidemics is evidently potentially useful for travelers. Should the app be adopted for use by travelers to Thailand, it could have an impact on wider knowledge distribution, which might result in decreased exposure, increased prophylaxis, and therefore a potential decreased burden on the healthcare system. For app developers who are developing/implementing this kind of app, it is important to address standardization of the data source and users’ concerns about the confidentiality and safety of their mobile devices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-platform mobile app development for disseminating public health information to travelers in Thailand: development and usability

Meankaew

Lawpoolsri

Piyaphanee

et al. 2022

Trop Dis Travel Med Vaccines

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Cross-Platform Mobile App Development for Disseminating Public Health Information to Travelers in Thailand: Development and Usability (Preprint)

Meankaew¹

2021

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Disease is a risk that travelers have identified as a key factor in deciding about their travel plans; many people are concerned about getting sick while traveling abroad. Information from mobile devices could be an effective means for travelers to access information about the disease situation in their planned destinations, thereby reducing the risk of disease exposure. OBJECTIVE We developed a mobile app using cross-platform technology to provide information about the disease situation for travelers to Thailand. We aimed to assess the app’s usability in terms of engagement, search logs, and effectiveness among target users. METHODS We developed the app, ThaiEpidemics, using the principle of mobile application development life cycle. The app employed cross-platform technology and ran on both iOS and Android. As its data source, the app used data from national disease surveillance. We conduced our study among visitors to Travel Clinic in the Hospital for Tropical Medicine. The participants were informed that the app would collect the usage and search logs related to their queries. After the second log-in, the app prompted participants to complete an e-survey regarding their opinions and preferences related to their awareness of the disease situation. RESULTS We based our prototype of ThaiEpidemics on a conceptualized framework for visualizing the distribution of 14 major diseases of concern to tourists in Southeast Asia. The app used weekly updated national disease surveillance data, and it provided users with functions and features to search for and visualize the disease situation in Thailand. The participants could access information about their current location and elsewhere in the country. In all, 83 people installed the app, and 52 responded to the e-survey. Regardless of age, education, and continent of origin, almost all e-survey respondents believed the app had raised their awareness of the disease situation when travelling. Most participants searched for information for all 14 diseases; some searched for information about dengue and malaria. CONCLUSIONS ThaiEpidemics evidently has potential usefulness for travelers. It is important for app developers to address standardization of the data source and users’ concerns about the confidentiality and safety of their mobile devices. We developed ThaiEpidemics as open source software; thus, general developers and others can use our files for further analysis and to build reports and dashboards that meet their own requirements.

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An Evaluation of Provincial Infectious Disease Surveillance Reports in Ontario

Abstract: Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text.

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Cross-platform mobile app development for disseminating public health information to travelers in Thailand: development and usability

Cross-platform mobile app development for disseminating public health information to travelers in Thailand: development and usability

Cross-Platform Mobile App Development for Disseminating Public Health Information to Travelers in Thailand: Development and Usability (Preprint)

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