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Soriano JB, Fernández E, de Astorza Á, Pérez de Llano LA, Fernández-Villar A, Carnicer-Pont D, Alcázar-Navarrete B, García A, Morales A, Lobo M, Maroto M, Ferreras E, Soriano C, Del Rio-Bermudez C, Vega-Piris L, Basagaña X, Muncunill J, Cosio BG, Lumbreras S, Catalina C, Alzaga JM, Gómez Quilón D, Valdivia CA, de Lara C, Ancochea J. Hospital Epidemics Tracker (HEpiTracker): Description and pilot study of a mobile app to track COVID-19 in hospital workers. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2020; 6:e21653. [PMID: 32845852 PMCID: PMC7511223 DOI: 10.2196/21653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2020] [Revised: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Hospital workers have been the most frequently and severely affected professional group during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have a big impact on transmission. In this context, innovative tools are required to measure the symptoms compatible with COVID-19, the spread of infection, and testing capabilities within hospitals in real time. Objective We aimed to develop and test an effective and user-friendly tool to identify and track symptoms compatible with COVID-19 in hospital workers. Methods We developed and pilot tested Hospital Epidemics Tracker (HEpiTracker), a newly designed app to track the spread of COVID-19 among hospital workers. Hospital staff in 9 hospital centers across 5 Spanish regions (Andalusia, Balearics, Catalonia, Galicia, and Madrid) were invited to download the app on their phones and to register their daily body temperature, COVID-19–compatible symptoms, and general health score, as well as any polymerase chain reaction and serological test results. Results A total of 477 hospital staff participated in the study between April 8 and June 2, 2020. Of note, both health-related (n=329) and non–health-related (n=148) professionals participated in the study; over two-thirds of participants (68.8%) were health workers (43.4% physicians and 25.4% nurses), while the proportion of non–health-related workers by center ranged from 40% to 85%. Most participants were female (n=323, 67.5%), with a mean age of 45.4 years (SD 10.6). Regarding smoking habits, 13.0% and 34.2% of participants were current or former smokers, respectively. The daily reporting of symptoms was highly variable across participating hospitals; although we observed a decline in adherence after an initial participation peak in some hospitals, other sites were characterized by low participation rates throughout the study period. Conclusions HEpiTracker is an already available tool to monitor COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in hospital workers. This tool has already been tested in real conditions. HEpiTracker is available in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. It has the potential to become a customized asset to be used in future COVID-19 pandemic waves and other environments. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04326400; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04326400
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Affiliation(s)
- Joan B Soriano
- Hospital Universitario La Princesa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
| | - Esteve Fernández
- Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.,Unidad de Control del Tabaco, Centro Colaborador de la OMS para el Control del Tabaco, Institut Català d'Oncologia-ICO, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.,Grupo de Control y Prevención del Cáncer, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.,Departamento de Ciencias Clínicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Dolors Carnicer-Pont
- Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.,Unidad de Control del Tabaco, Centro Colaborador de la OMS para el Control del Tabaco, Institut Català d'Oncologia-ICO, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.,Grupo de Control y Prevención del Cáncer, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.,Departamento de Ciencias Clínicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bernardino Alcázar-Navarrete
- Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.,Servicio de Neumología, Hospital de Alta Resolución de Loja, Loja, Spain
| | | | | | - María Lobo
- Fundación Teófilo Hernando, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Cecilia Soriano
- CIMNE - International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Lorena Vega-Piris
- Unidad de Metodología, IIS del Hospital Universitario La Princesa, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Borja G Cosio
- Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.,IdISBa, Palma, Spain.,Servicio de Neumología, Hospital Universitari Son Espases, Palma, Spain
| | - Sara Lumbreras
- Institute for Research in Technology, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Julio Ancochea
- Hospital Universitario La Princesa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
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