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

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

J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2016 Sep;6(3):147-55. doi: 10.1016/j.jegh.2015.07.005. Epub 2015 Aug 13.

Authors

Amani S Alqahtani¹, Nasser F BinDhim², Mohamed Tashani³, Harold W Willaby⁴, Kerrie E Wiley⁴, Anita E Heywood⁵, Robert Booy⁶, Harunor Rashid³

Affiliations

¹ National 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; School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: amani.alqahtani@health.nsw.gov.au.
² School of Public Health and Health Informatics, Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ National 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.
⁴ National 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; School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁵ School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ National 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; Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, School of Biological Sciences and Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

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.

Keywords: App; Hajj; Infectious disease; Mass gathering; Smartphone; Traveller.

MeSH terms

Adult
Communicable Diseases / epidemiology*
Feasibility Studies
Female
Health Behavior*
Health Surveys / methods*
Health Surveys / statistics & numerical data
Humans
Islam
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Mobile Applications*
Pilot Projects
Population Surveillance
Saudi Arabia / epidemiology
Smartphone*
Travel
Travel-Related Illness*
Young Adult