Pilot use of a novel smartphone application to track traveller health behaviour and collect infectious disease data during a mass gathering: Hajj pilgrimage 2014

Amani S. Alqahtani; Nasser F. BinDhim; Mohamed Tashani; Harold W. Willaby; Kerrie E. Wiley; Anita E. Heywood; Robert Booy; Harunor Rashid

doi:10.1016/j.jegh.2015.07.005

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Volume 6, Issue 3, September 2016, Pages 147 - 155

Pilot use of a novel smartphone application to track traveller health behaviour and collect infectious disease data during a mass gathering: Hajj pilgrimage 2014

Authors

Amani S. Alqahtani^a^{, b}^{, *}^{, 1}^,amani.alqahtani@health.nsw.gov.au, Nasser F. BinDhim^c^{, 1}, Mohamed Tashani^a, Harold W. Willaby^a^{, b}, Kerrie E. Wiley^a^{, b}, Anita E. Heywood^d, Robert Booy^a^{, e}, Harunor Rashid^a

^aNational Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS), The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, and the Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

^bSchool of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

^cSchool of Public Health and Health Informatics, Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

^dSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

^eMarie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, School of Biological Sciences and Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

¹

Joint first author.

^*Corresponding author at: National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS), Kids Research Institute at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.

Corresponding Author

Amani S. Alqahtaniamani.alqahtani@health.nsw.gov.au

Received 4 May 2015, Revised 23 June 2015, Accepted 7 July 2015, Available Online 13 August 2015.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2015.07.005 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: App; Hajj; Infectious disease; Mass gathering; Smartphone; Traveller
Abstract: This study examines the feasibility of using a smartphone application (app) to conduct surveys among travellers during the Hajj pilgrimage, where the use of apps has not been evaluated for infectious disease surveillance. A longitudinal study was conducted among pilgrims at the Hajj 2014 using an iPhone app with separate questionnaires for three study phases covering before, during, and after Hajj. Forty-eight pilgrims from 13 countries downloaded the app. Respondents were aged between 21 and 61 (median 36) years and 58.5% (24/41) were male. Of these, 85% (41/48) completed the first phase, 52% (25/41) completed both the second and third phases, and 25 of these reported meningococcal vaccination, with 36% (9/25) receiving other vaccines. All (25) reported hand hygiene use and 64% (16/25) wore a facemask at some point during the pilgrimage. Four (6%) reported close contact with camels. Respiratory symptoms commenced from the 4th day of Hajj, with sore throat (20%) and cough (12%) being the most common. Three participants (12%) reported respiratory symptoms after returning home. Conducting a prospective survey using a smartphone app to collect data on travel-associated infections and traveller compliance to prevention is feasible at mass gatherings and can provide useful data associated with health-related behaviour.
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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Journal: Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue: 6 - 3
Pages: 147 - 155
Publication Date: 2015/08/13
ISSN (Online): 2210-6014
ISSN (Print): 2210-6006
DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2015.07.005 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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ris enw bib

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Amani S. Alqahtani
AU  - Nasser F. BinDhim
AU  - Mohamed Tashani
AU  - Harold W. Willaby
AU  - Kerrie E. Wiley
AU  - Anita E. Heywood
AU  - Robert Booy
AU  - Harunor Rashid
PY  - 2015
DA  - 2015/08/13
TI  - Pilot use of a novel smartphone application to track traveller health behaviour and collect infectious disease data during a mass gathering: Hajj pilgrimage 2014
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 147
EP  - 155
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2015.07.005
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2015.07.005
ID  - Alqahtani2015
ER  -

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