Monitoring Health Care Workers at Risk for COVID-19 Using Wearable Sensors and Smartphone Technology: Protocol for an Observational mHealth Study

doi:10.2196/29562

. 2021 May 12;10(5):e29562.

doi: 10.2196/29562.

Monitoring Health Care Workers at Risk for COVID-19 Using Wearable Sensors and Smartphone Technology: Protocol for an Observational mHealth Study

Caroline A Clingan¹, Manasa Dittakavi¹, Michelle Rozwadowski¹, Kristen N Gilley¹, Christine R Cislo¹, Jenny Barabas², Erin Sandford², Mary Olesnavich², Christopher Flora², Jonathan Tyler^{1

3}, Caleb Mayer³, Emily Stoneman⁴, Thomas Braun⁵, Daniel B Forger³, Muneesh Tewari^#^{2

6

7

8}, Sung Won Choi^#^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
² Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
³ Department of Mathematics, College of Literature, Arts, and Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁶ Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁷ Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁸ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 33945497
PMCID: PMC8117956
DOI: 10.2196/29562

Monitoring Health Care Workers at Risk for COVID-19 Using Wearable Sensors and Smartphone Technology: Protocol for an Observational mHealth Study

Caroline A Clingan et al. JMIR Res Protoc. 2021.

. 2021 May 12;10(5):e29562.

doi: 10.2196/29562.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
² Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
³ Department of Mathematics, College of Literature, Arts, and Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁶ Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁷ Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁸ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 33945497
PMCID: PMC8117956
DOI: 10.2196/29562

Abstract

Background: Health care workers (HCWs) have been working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic with high risks of viral exposure, infection, and transmission. Standard COVID-19 testing is insufficient to protect HCWs from these risks and prevent the spread of disease. Continuous monitoring of physiological data with wearable sensors, self-monitoring of symptoms, and asymptomatic COVID-19 testing may aid in the early detection of COVID-19 in HCWs and may help reduce further transmission among HCWs, patients, and families.

Objective: By using wearable sensors, smartphone-based symptom logging, and biospecimens, this project aims to assist HCWs in self-monitoring COVID-19.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, longitudinal study of HCWs at a single institution. The study duration was 1 year, wherein participants were instructed on the continuous use of two wearable sensors (Fitbit Charge 3 smartwatch and TempTraq temperature patches) for up to 30 days. Participants consented to provide biospecimens (ie, nasal swabs, saliva swabs, and blood) for up to 1 year from study entry. Using a smartphone app called Roadmap 2.0, participants entered a daily mood score, submitted daily COVID-19 symptoms, and completed demographic and health-related quality of life surveys at study entry and 30 days later. Semistructured qualitative interviews were also conducted at the end of the 30-day period, following completion of daily mood and symptoms reporting as well as continuous wearable sensor use.

Results: A total of 226 HCWs were enrolled between April 28 and December 7, 2020. The last participant completed the 30-day study procedures on January 16, 2021. Data collection will continue through January 2023, and data analyses are ongoing.

Conclusions: Using wearable sensors, smartphone-based symptom logging and survey completion, and biospecimen collections, this study will potentially provide data on the prevalence of COVID-19 infection among HCWs at a single institution. The study will also assess the feasibility of leveraging wearable sensors and self-monitoring of symptoms in an HCW population.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04756869; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04756869.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/29562.

Keywords: COVID-19; app; digital health; frontline worker; health care worker; mHealth; mobile health; sensor; smartphone; wearable.

©Caroline A Clingan, Manasa Dittakavi, Michelle Rozwadowski, Kristen N Gilley, Christine R Cislo, Jenny Barabas, Erin Sandford, Mary Olesnavich, Christopher Flora, Jonathan Tyler, Caleb Mayer, Emily Stoneman, Thomas Braun, Daniel B Forger, Muneesh Tewari, Sung Won Choi. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 12.05.2021.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Study schematic. HCW: health care worker.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Cited by

Smartphone-based corona virus detection using saliva: A mini-review.
Ehtesabi H, Afzalpour E. Ehtesabi H, et al. Heliyon. 2023 Mar;9(3):e14380. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14380. Epub 2023 Mar 8. Heliyon. 2023. PMID: 36919087 Free PMC article. Review.
Flexible and Wearable Biosensors for Monitoring Health Conditions.
Song Z, Zhou S, Qin Y, Xia X, Sun Y, Han G, Shu T, Hu L, Zhang Q. Song Z, et al. Biosensors (Basel). 2023 Jun 7;13(6):630. doi: 10.3390/bios13060630. Biosensors (Basel). 2023. PMID: 37366995 Free PMC article. Review.
Emerging data inputs for infectious diseases surveillance and decision making.
Shausan A, Nazarathy Y, Dyda A. Shausan A, et al. Front Digit Health. 2023 Apr 4;5:1131731. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2023.1131731. eCollection 2023. Front Digit Health. 2023. PMID: 37082524 Free PMC article. Review.
Applications of Technological Solutions in Primary Ways of Preventing Transmission of Respiratory Infectious Diseases-A Systematic Literature Review.
Leite GS, Albuquerque AB, Pinheiro PR. Leite GS, et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Oct 14;18(20):10765. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182010765. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021. PMID: 34682511 Free PMC article.
The performance of wearable sensors in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a systematic review.
Mitratza M, Goodale BM, Shagadatova A, Kovacevic V, van de Wijgert J, Brakenhoff TB, Dobson R, Franks B, Veen D, Folarin AA, Stolk P, Grobbee DE, Cronin M, Downward GS. Mitratza M, et al. Lancet Digit Health. 2022 May;4(5):e370-e383. doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(22)00019-X. Lancet Digit Health. 2022. PMID: 35461692 Free PMC article.

References

1. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. World Health Organization. [2021-03-23]. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019.
1. Holshue ML, DeBolt C, Lindquist S, Lofy KH, Wiesman J, Bruce H, Spitters C, Ericson K, Wilkerson S, Tural A, Diaz G, Cohn A, Fox L, Patel A, Gerber SI, Kim L, Tong S, Lu X, Lindstrom S, Pallansch MA, Weldon WC, Biggs HM, Uyeki TM, Pillai SK. First case of 2019 novel coronavirus in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 05;382(10):929–936. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001191. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/32004427 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. [2021-03-23]. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/
1. Lauer SA, Grantz KH, Bi Q, Jones FK, Zheng Q, Meredith HR, Azman AS, Reich NG, Lessler J. The incubation period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from publicly reported confirmed cases: estimation and application. Ann Intern Med. 2020 May 05;172(9):577–582. doi: 10.7326/M20-0504. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/32150748 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Symptoms of COVID-19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [2021-04-12]. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html.

Associated data

Actions
- Search in PubMed
- Search in ClinicalTrials.gov

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
- scite Smart Citations
Medical
- ClinicalTrials.gov
Miscellaneous
- NCI CPTAC Assay Portal

[1] Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. World Health Organization. [2021-03-23]. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019.

[2] Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. World Health Organization. [2021-03-23]. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019.

[3] Holshue ML, DeBolt C, Lindquist S, Lofy KH, Wiesman J, Bruce H, Spitters C, Ericson K, Wilkerson S, Tural A, Diaz G, Cohn A, Fox L, Patel A, Gerber SI, Kim L, Tong S, Lu X, Lindstrom S, Pallansch MA, Weldon WC, Biggs HM, Uyeki TM, Pillai SK. First case of 2019 novel coronavirus in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 05;382(10):929–936. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001191. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/32004427 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[4] Holshue ML, DeBolt C, Lindquist S, Lofy KH, Wiesman J, Bruce H, Spitters C, Ericson K, Wilkerson S, Tural A, Diaz G, Cohn A, Fox L, Patel A, Gerber SI, Kim L, Tong S, Lu X, Lindstrom S, Pallansch MA, Weldon WC, Biggs HM, Uyeki TM, Pillai SK. First case of 2019 novel coronavirus in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 05;382(10):929–936. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001191. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/32004427 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[5] Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. [2021-03-23]. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

[6] Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. [2021-03-23]. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

[7] Lauer SA, Grantz KH, Bi Q, Jones FK, Zheng Q, Meredith HR, Azman AS, Reich NG, Lessler J. The incubation period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from publicly reported confirmed cases: estimation and application. Ann Intern Med. 2020 May 05;172(9):577–582. doi: 10.7326/M20-0504. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/32150748 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Lauer SA, Grantz KH, Bi Q, Jones FK, Zheng Q, Meredith HR, Azman AS, Reich NG, Lessler J. The incubation period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from publicly reported confirmed cases: estimation and application. Ann Intern Med. 2020 May 05;172(9):577–582. doi: 10.7326/M20-0504. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/32150748 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Symptoms of COVID-19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [2021-04-12]. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html.

[10] Symptoms of COVID-19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [2021-04-12]. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html.

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Monitoring Health Care Workers at Risk for COVID-19 Using Wearable Sensors and Smartphone Technology: Protocol for an Observational mHealth Study

Affiliations

Monitoring Health Care Workers at Risk for COVID-19 Using Wearable Sensors and Smartphone Technology: Protocol for an Observational mHealth Study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

Similar articles

Cited by

References

Associated data

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous