COVIDApp as an Innovative Strategy for the Management and Follow-Up of COVID-19 Cases in Long-Term Care Facilities in Catalonia: Implementation Study.
JMIR Public Health Surveill
; 6(3): e21163, 2020 07 17.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-690445
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented worldwide public health crisis that requires new management approaches. COVIDApp is a mobile app that was adapted for the management of institutionalized individuals in long-term care facilities.OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this paper is to report the implementation of this innovative tool for the management of long-term care facility residents as a high-risk population, specifically for early identification and self-isolation of suspected cases, remote monitoring of mild cases, and real-time monitoring of the progression of the infection.METHODS:
COVIDApp was implemented in 196 care centers in collaboration with 64 primary care teams. The following parameters of COVID-19 were reported daily signs/symptoms; diagnosis by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction; absence of symptoms for ≥14 days; total deaths; and number of health care workers isolated with suspected COVID-19. The number of at-risk centers was also described.RESULTS:
Data were recorded from 10,347 institutionalized individuals and up to 4000 health care workers between April 1 and 30, 2020. A rapid increase in suspected cases was seen until day 6 but decreased during the last two weeks (from 1084 to 282 cases). The number of confirmed cases increased from 419 (day 6) to 1293 (day 22) and remained stable during the last week. Of the 10,347 institutionalized individuals, 5,090 (49,2%) remained asymptomatic for ≥14 days. A total of 854/10,347 deaths (8.3%) were reported; 383 of these deaths (44.8%) were suspected/confirmed cases. The number of isolated health care workers remained high over the 30 days, while the number of suspected cases decreased during the last 2 weeks. The number of high-risk long-term care facilities decreased from 19/196 (9.5%) to 3/196 (1.5%).CONCLUSIONS:
COVIDApp can help clinicians rapidly detect and remotely monitor suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19 among institutionalized individuals, thus limiting the risk of spreading the virus. The platform shows the progression of infection in real time and can aid in designing new monitoring strategies.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Pandemics
/
Mobile Applications
/
Homes for the Aged
/
Nursing Homes
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
JMIR Public Health Surveill
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
21163
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS