Pilot Evaluations of Two Bluetooth Contact Tracing Approaches on a University Campus: Mixed Methods Study

Autor: Tyler Shelby, Tyler Caruthers, Oren Y Kanner, Rebecca Schneider, Dana Lipnickas, Lauretta E Grau, Rajit Manohar, Linda Niccolai
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: JMIR Formative Research, Vol 5, Iss 10, p e31086 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2561-326X
DOI: 10.2196/31086
Popis: BackgroundMany have proposed the use of Bluetooth technology to help scale up contact tracing for COVID-19. However, much remains unknown about the accuracy of this technology in real-world settings, the attitudes of potential users, and the differences between delivery formats (mobile app vs carriable or wearable devices). ObjectiveWe pilot tested 2 separate Bluetooth contact tracing technologies on a university campus to evaluate their sensitivity and specificity, and to learn from the experiences of the participants. MethodsWe used a convergent mixed methods study design, and participants included graduate students and researchers working on a university campus during June and July 2020. We conducted separate 2-week pilot studies for each Bluetooth technology. The first was for a mobile phone app (“app pilot”), and the second was for a small electronic “tag” (“tag pilot”). Participants validated a list of Bluetooth-identified contacts daily and reported additional close contacts not identified by Bluetooth. We used these data to estimate sensitivity and specificity. Participants completed a postparticipation survey regarding appropriateness, usability, acceptability, and adherence, and provided additional feedback via free text. We used tests of proportions to evaluate differences in survey responses between participants from each pilot, paired t tests to measure differences between compatible survey questions, and qualitative analysis to evaluate the survey’s free-text responses. ResultsAmong 25 participants in the app pilot, 53 contact interactions were identified by Bluetooth and an additional 61 by self-report. Among 17 participants in the tag pilot, 171 contact interactions were identified by Bluetooth and an additional 4 by self-report. The tag had significantly higher sensitivity compared with the app (46/49, 94% vs 35/61, 57%; P
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