@Article{info:doi/10.2196/39700,
author="Bota, A Brianne
and Bettinger, Julie A
and Sarfo-Mensah, Shirley
and Lopez, Jimmy
and Smith, David P
and Atkinson, Katherine M
and Bell, Cameron
and Marty, Kim
and Serhan, Mohamed
and Zhu, David T
and McCarthy, Anne E
and Wilson, Kumanan",
title="Comparing the Use of a Mobile App and a Web-Based Notification Platform for Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Influenza Immunization: Randomized Controlled Trial",
journal="JMIR Public Health Surveill",
year="2023",
month="May",
day="8",
volume="9",
pages="e39700",
keywords="active participant--centered reporting; health technology; adverse event reporting; mobile apps; immunization; vaccine; safety; influenza; campaign; apps; mobile; surveillance; pharmacovigilance",
abstract="Background: Vaccine safety surveillance is a core component of vaccine pharmacovigilance. In Canada, active, participant-centered vaccine surveillance is available for influenza vaccines and has been used for COVID-19 vaccines. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of using a mobile app for reporting participant-centered seasonal influenza adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) compared to a web-based notification system. Methods: Participants were randomized to influenza vaccine safety reporting via a mobile app or a web-based notification platform. All participants were invited to complete a user experience survey. Results: Among the 2408 randomized participants, 1319 (54{\%}) completed their safety survey 1 week after vaccination, with a higher completion rate among the web-based notification platform users (767/1196, 64{\%}) than among mobile app users (552/1212, 45{\%}; P<.001). Ease-of-use ratings were high for the web-based notification platform users (99{\%} strongly agree or agree) and 88.8{\%} of them strongly agreed or agreed that the system made reporting AEFIs easier. Web-based notification platform users supported the statement that a web-based notification-only approach would make it easier for public health professionals to detect vaccine safety signals (91.4{\%}, agreed or strongly agreed). Conclusions: Participants in this study were significantly more likely to respond to a web-based safety survey rather than within a mobile app. These results suggest that mobile apps present an additional barrier for use compared to the web-based notification--only approach. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05794113; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT05794113 ",
issn="2369-2960",
doi="10.2196/39700",
url="https://publichealth.jmir.org/2023/1/e39700",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/39700",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37155240"
}