Meankaew Pongthep, Lawpoolsri Saranath, Piyaphanee Watcharapong, Wansatid Peerawat, Chaovalit Pimwadee, Lawawirojwong Siam, Kaewkungwal Jaranit
Department of Tropical Hygiene, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 8th Floor and 9th Floor Tranakchit Harinasuta Building, 420/6 Ratchawithi Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
Center of Excellence for Biomedical and Public Health Informatics (BIOPHICS), Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Trop Dis Travel Med Vaccines. 2022 Jul 15;8(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s40794-022-00174-6.
The risk of disease is a key factor that travelers have identified when planning to travel abroad, as many people are concerned about getting sick. Mobile devices can be an effective means for travelers to access information regarding disease prevalence in their planned destinations, potentially reducing the risk of exposure.
We developed a mobile app, ThaiEpidemics, using cross-platform technology to provide information about disease prevalence and status for travelers to Thailand. We aimed to assess the app's usability in terms of engagement, search logs, and effectiveness among target users. The app was developed using the principle of mobile application development life cycle, for both iOS and Android. As its data source, the app used weekly data from national disease-surveillance reports. We conduced our study among visitors to the Travel Clinic in the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. The participants were informed that the app would collect usage and search logs related to their queries. After the second log-in, the app prompted participants to complete an e-survey regarding their opinions and preferences related to their awareness of disease prevalence and status.
We based our prototype of ThaiEpidemics on a conceptualized framework for visualizing the distribution of 14 major diseases of concern to tourists in Southeast Asia. The app provided users with functions and features to search for and visualize disease prevalence and status in Thailand. The participants could access information for their current location and elsewhere in the country. In all, 83 people installed the app, and 52 responded to the e-survey. Regardless of age, education, and continent of origin, almost all e-survey respondents believed the app had raised their awareness of disease prevalence and status when travelling. Most participants searched for information for all 14 diseases; some searched for information specifically about dengue and malaria.
ThaiEpidemics is evidently potentially useful for travelers. Should the app be adopted for use by travelers to Thailand, it could have an impact on wider knowledge distribution, which might result in decreased exposure, increased prophylaxis, and therefore a potential decreased burden on the healthcare system. For app developers who are developing/implementing this kind of app, it is important to address standardization of the data source and users' concerns about the confidentiality and safety of their mobile devices.
疾病风险是旅行者在计划出国旅行时确定的一个关键因素，因为许多人担心生病。移动设备可以成为旅行者获取有关其计划目的地疾病流行信息的有效手段，有可能降低接触风险。
我们使用跨平台技术开发了一款名为“泰国疫情”的移动应用程序，为前往泰国的旅行者提供有关疾病流行情况和状态的信息。我们旨在从参与度、搜索记录和目标用户中的有效性方面评估该应用程序的可用性。该应用程序是按照移动应用程序开发生命周期的原则为iOS和安卓系统开发的。作为其数据源，该应用程序使用了国家疾病监测报告中的每周数据。我们在泰国曼谷玛希隆大学热带医学院热带病医院旅行诊所的访客中开展了研究。参与者被告知该应用程序将收集与他们的查询相关的使用和搜索记录。在第二次登录后，该应用程序提示参与者完成一项电子调查，询问他们对疾病流行情况和状态的认识、意见和偏好。
我们基于一个概念框架构建了“泰国疫情”的原型，以可视化东南亚游客关注的14种主要疾病的分布情况。该应用程序为用户提供了搜索和可视化泰国疾病流行情况和状态的功能及特性。参与者可以获取其当前位置及该国其他地方的信息。共有83人安装了该应用程序，52人回复了电子调查。无论年龄、教育程度和原籍大陆如何，几乎所有电子调查受访者都认为该应用程序提高了他们旅行时对疾病流行情况和状态的认识。大多数参与者搜索了所有14种疾病的信息；一些人专门搜索了有关登革热和疟疾的信息。
“泰国疫情”显然对旅行者有潜在用处。如果该应用程序被前往泰国的旅行者采用，它可能会对更广泛的知识传播产生影响，这可能会减少接触、增加预防措施，从而可能减轻医疗系统的负担。对于正在开发/实施此类应用程序的开发者来说，解决数据源的标准化以及用户对其移动设备保密性和安全性的担忧非常重要。
