@Article{info:doi/10.2196/21653,
author="Soriano, Joan B
and Fern{\'a}ndez, Esteve
and de Astorza, {\'A}lvaro
and P{\'e}rez de Llano, Luis A
and Fern{\'a}ndez-Villar, Alberto
and Carnicer-Pont, Dolors
and Alc{\'a}zar-Navarrete, Bernardino
and Garc{\'i}a, Arturo
and Morales, Aurelio
and Lobo, Mar{\'i}a
and Maroto, Marcos
and Ferreras, Eloy
and Soriano, Cecilia
and Del Rio-Bermudez, Carlos
and Vega-Piris, Lorena
and Basaga{\~{n}}a, Xavier
and Muncunill, Josep
and Cosio, Borja G
and Lumbreras, Sara
and Catalina, Carlos
and Alzaga, Jos{\'e} Mar{\'i}a
and G{\'o}mez Quil{\'o}n, David
and Valdivia, Carlos Alberto
and de Lara, Celia
and Ancochea, Julio",
title="Hospital Epidemics Tracker (HEpiTracker): Description and Pilot Study of a Mobile App to Track COVID-19 in Hospital Workers",
journal="JMIR Public Health Surveill",
year="2020",
month="Sep",
day="21",
volume="6",
number="3",
pages="e21653",
keywords="app; COVID-19; coronavirus; e-medicine; monitoring; symptoms; surveillance",
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 ",
issn="2369-2960",
doi="10.2196/21653",
url="http://publichealth.jmir.org/2020/3/e21653/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/21653",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32845852"
}