| Autor: |
Hanna Merk, Sharon Kühlmann-Berenzon, Christin Bexelius, Sven Sandin, Jan-Eric Litton, Annika Linde, Olof Nyrén |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2013 |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 4, p e61644 (2013) |
| Druh dokumentu: |
article |
| ISSN: |
1932-6203 |
| DOI: |
10.1371/journal.pone.0061644 |
| Popis: |
BACKGROUND: The 2009/2010 pandemic influenza highlighted the need for valid and timely incidence data. In 2007 we started the development of a passive surveillance scheme based on passive follow-up of representative general population cohorts. Cohort members are asked to spontaneously report all instances of colds and fevers as soon as they occur for up to 9 months. Suspecting that compliance might be poor, we aimed to assess the validity of self-initiated, event-driven outcome reporting over long periods. METHODS: During two 8 week periods in 2008 and 2009, 2376 and 2514 cohort members in Stockholm County were sent one-week recall questionnaires, which served as reference method. RESULTS: The questionnaires were completed by 88% and 86% of the cohort members. Whilst the false positive proportion (1-specificity) in the reporting was low (upper bound of the 95% confidence interval [CI] ≤ 2% in each season), the false negative proportion (failure to report, 1-sensitivity) was considerable (60% [95% CI 52%-67%] in each season). Still, the resulting epidemic curves for influenza-like illness compared well with those from existing General Practitioner-based sentinel surveillance in terms of shape, timing of peak, and year-to-year variation. This suggested that the error was fairly constant. CONCLUSIONS: Passive long-term surveillance through self-initiated, event-driven outcome reporting underestimates incidence rates of common upper respiratory tract infections. However, because underreporting appears predictable, simple corrections could potentially restore validity. |
| Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
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