Evaluation on application of intelligent voice call system in popularizing knowledge of prevention and control of COVID-19 for chronic disease patients in the community / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate an intelligent voice call system in popularizing knowledge of prevention and control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for chronic disease patients in the community.Methods:An intelligent voice call system for popularization of scientific knowledge of COVID-19 and protective measures was developed in Fangzhuang Community Health Service Center of Beijing Fengtai district, in which 12 popular education modules ware designed and 3-6 core points were extracted from each module. During January 23 to January 29, 2020, the system was applied to send voice calls and text messages to all contracted chronic disease patients in Fangzhuang community with popular science education in different time points. Using equidistant sampling method, 400 participants were selected from the patients of successful voice outbound calls. The intelligent voice outbound system was used to investigate the participants′ COVID-19 knowledge levels, the main sources of knowledge and satisfaction with education. The outbound results of the above indicators were queried from the database of the intelligent voice outbound system.Results:A total of 98 487 voice outbound calls were effectively connected, the average call duration per person was 2.24 minutes, and the total call duration was equivalent to 488.5 workdays. A total of 141 201 messages were sent, with a read rate of 97.8% (141 201/144 405) . After the voice outbound education, the participants′ scores in answering the questionnaire on 12 popular science knowledge modules ware all significantly increased compared to those before the education ( t=22.4, 27.5, 24.3, 31.2, 25.6, 18.9, 22.5, 27.3, 28.1, 26.4, 15.2, 22.6, all P<0.01) ; 94.8% (235/248) of participants′ knowledge of COVID-19 mainly came from voice call. In addition, the patient′s overall satisfaction with the application of the intelligent voice call system for popularizing science education was 90.8% (225/248). Conclusions:The knowledge levels of COVID-19 and its prevention and control measures effectively have been improved among the community chronic disease patients with the application of an intelligent voice outbound system. Moreover, this mode is highly acceptable to patients, which would be introduced to other urban communities in China.