Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 27;11(1):2319. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-81673-y.
Comparisons of the utility and accuracy of methods for measuring social interactions relevant to disease transmission are rare. To increase the evidence base supporting specific methods to measure social interaction, we compared data from self-reported contact surveys and wearable proximity sensors from a cohort of schoolchildren in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Although the number and type of contacts recorded by each participant differed between the two methods, we found good correspondence between the two methods in aggregate measures of age-specific interactions. Fewer, but longer, contacts were reported in surveys, relative to the generally short proximal interactions captured by wearable sensors. When adjusted for expectations of proportionate mixing, though, the two methods produced highly similar, assortative age-mixing matrices. These aggregate mixing matrices, when used in simulation, resulted in similar estimates of risk of infection by age. While proximity sensors and survey methods may not be interchangeable for capturing individual contacts, they can generate highly correlated data on age-specific mixing patterns relevant to the dynamics of respiratory virus transmission.
比较用于测量与疾病传播相关的社交互动的方法的实用性和准确性的研究很少。为了增加支持特定方法测量社交互动的证据基础，我们比较了匹兹堡大都市区一组学童的自我报告接触调查和可穿戴接近传感器的数据。尽管两种方法记录的每个参与者的接触次数和类型不同，但我们发现两种方法在针对特定年龄的综合互动措施方面具有良好的一致性。与可穿戴传感器通常记录的短暂近距离交互相比，调查中报告的接触次数较少，但持续时间较长。然而，当根据预期的成比例混合进行调整时，这两种方法产生了高度相似的按年龄分组的混合矩阵。这些综合混合矩阵在用于模拟时，导致了对年龄相关感染风险的相似估计。虽然接近传感器和调查方法在捕捉个体接触方面可能无法互换，但它们可以生成与呼吸道病毒传播动力学相关的特定年龄混合模式的高度相关数据。
