ABSTRACT
Samenvatting Binnensportaccommodaties werden langer gesloten gehouden dan buitensportaccommodaties gedurende de lockdowns tijdens de COVID-19-pandemie. Dit onderzoek beantwoordt de vraag of binnen sporten het risico op besmetting met SARS-CoV‑2 vergroot. Hiervoor werden gegevens gebruikt van de COVID RADAR-app. Er werd gecorrigeerd voor leeftijd, vaccinatiestatus, geslacht, ander risicogedrag, prevalentie van SARS-CoV‑2 en kwaliteit van de leefomgeving. Uit analyses van 1.353 gebruikers, van wie 13,0% een positieve testuitslag rapporteerde, blijkt dat binnensporters significant vaker een positieve test hadden (oddsratio 1,8;95%-betrouwbaarheidsinterval 1,2–2,6;p = 0,003) ten opzichte van gebruikers die buiten sporten. Dit bevestigt de rationale achter het eerdere beleid ten aanzien van het langer gesloten houden van binnensportaccommodaties om het aantal besmettingen te reduceren. Digitaal aanvullende content De online versie van dit artikel (10.1007/s12508-022-00351-0) bevat aanvullend materiaal, toegankelijk voor daartoe geautoriseerde gebruikers.
ABSTRACT
Indoor sporting locations have been forced to stay closed longer than outdoor sporting locations during the lockdowns introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research addresses the question whether exercising indoors does raise one's risk of infection with SARS-CoV2. This analysis was performed using data from the COVID RADAR app and accounted for user differences in age, vaccine status, sex, other risky behavior, SARS-CoV2 prevalence and quality of living environment. Analyzing data from 1,353 users, 13.1% of which reported a positive SARS-CoV2 test, we found that exercising indoors leads to an odds ratio of 1.8 with a positive SARS-CoV2 test (95%-confidence interval 1.2-2.6, pâ¯= 0.003), as compared to users who exercise outdoors. This confirms the justification used in longer closing indoor sporting locations to reduce the number of infections.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Monitoring of symptoms and behavior may enable prediction of emerging COVID-19 hotspots. The COVID Radar smartphone app, active in the Netherlands, allows users to self-report symptoms, social distancing behaviors, and COVID-19 status daily. The objective of this study is to describe the validation of the COVID Radar. METHODS: COVID Radar users are asked to complete a daily questionnaire consisting of 20 questions assessing their symptoms, social distancing behavior, and COVID-19 status. We describe the internal and external validation of symptoms, behavior, and both user-reported COVID-19 status and state-reported COVID-19 case numbers. RESULTS: Since April 2nd, 2020, over 6 million observations from over 250,000 users have been collected using the COVID Radar app. Almost 2,000 users reported having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Amongst users testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the proportion of observations reporting symptoms was higher than that of the cohort as a whole in the week prior to a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Likewise, users who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 showed above average risk social-distancing behavior. Per-capita user-reported SARS-CoV-2 positive tests closely matched government-reported per-capita case counts in provinces with high user engagement. DISCUSSION: The COVID Radar app allows voluntarily self-reporting of COVID-19 related symptoms and social distancing behaviors. Symptoms and risk behavior increase prior to a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, and user-reported case counts match closely with nationally-reported case counts in regions with high user engagement. These results suggest the COVID Radar may be a valid instrument for future surveillance and potential predictive analytics to identify emerging hotspots.