Winter Michael, Probst Thomas, Keil Thomas, Pryss Rüdiger
Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Institute of Medical Data Science, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
NPJ Digit Med. 2025 Apr 9;8(1):197. doi: 10.1038/s41746-025-01595-1.
This study explored differences in COVID-19 infections and symptoms between Android and iOS users using data from the CoronaCheck app. This cross-sectional analysis included 23,063 global users (20,753 Android and 2310 iOS) from April 2020 to February 2023. Participants reported COVID-19 symptoms and contact risks, with data analyzed to adjust for age, sex, education, and country. Android users were generally younger, more often male, had a lower educational level, and reported more symptoms on average (2.1 vs. 1.6) than iOS users. Android users also had higher suspected COVID-19 infection rates (24% vs. 11%), with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.21 (95% CI: 1.93-2.54). These findings suggest platform-based differences in COVID-19 infection rates and symptom reporting, highlighting potential biases in mobile health research. Adjusting for device operating systems may be crucial in improving the reliability of population-based health data collected through mobile platforms.
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