Linking the global positioning system (GPS) to a personal digital assistant (PDA) to support tuberculosis control in South Africa: a pilot study.
Linking the global positioning system (GPS) to a personal digital assistant (PDA) to support tuberculosis control in South Africa: a pilot study.
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DOI：
10.1186/1476-072x-5-34
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发表时间：
2006-08-16
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Martinson, Neil A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dwolatzky, Barry;Trengove, Estelle;Martinson, Neil A
背景：结核病（TB）是艾滋病毒感染的主要临床表现，在艾滋病毒高流行地区，结核病病例数持续增加。结核病治疗时间较长，治疗中断会造成严重的个人和公共卫生后果。我们评估了使用用定制软件编程并连接到 GPS 接收器的手持计算设备的可行性，以协助结核病控制计划追踪在没有有用街道地图的地区中断治疗的患者。在这项概念验证研究中，我们将给定的住宅地址与连接到全球定位系统 (PDA/GPS) 设备的定制个性化数字助理进行了比较，以比较重新找到家所需的时间。此外，我们还评估了使用航拍照片来定位房屋的可行性。 结果：这项研究在南非大约翰内斯堡的两个社区进行：惠勒斯农场（Wheillers Farm），一个人口相对稀少的非正规住区，以及亚历山德拉（Alexandra）的一部分，这是一个人口稠密的非正规住区的城镇。每个社区的十名参与者被要求在航空照片上找到他们的家。来自惠勒斯农场的九名和来自亚历山德拉的六名能够辨认出他们的家。将不熟悉该地区的研究助理使用给定地址在每个社区找到 10 个家庭所花费的总时间与经过半小时培训的社区志愿者使用该设备找到相同家庭所花费的总时间进行比较。使用 PDA/GPS 设备，每个社区定位 10 个家庭的时间分别减少了 20% 和 50%。 结论：在这项试点研究中，我们表明使用简单的 PDA/GPS 设备定位患者的家是可行的。我们发现，在人口稠密的非正规住区中，GPS 技术在识别房屋方面比航拍照片更准确，并且比参与者提供的地址更有效。在为此应用实施基于 PDA/GPS 的技术之前，必须对保密性和成本效益问题进行研究评估。然而，这种 PDA/GPS 设备可用于减轻结核病控制项目的部分负担。
BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading clinical manifestation of HIV infection and caseloads continue to increase in high HIV prevalence settings. TB treatment is prolonged and treatment interruption has serious individual and public health consequences. We assessed the feasibility of using a handheld computing device programmed with customised software and linked to a GPS receiver, to assist TB control programmes to trace patients who interrupt treatment in areas without useful street maps. In this proof of concept study, we compared the time taken to re-find a home comparing given residential addresses with a customised personalised digital assistant linked to a global positioning system (PDA/GPS) device. Additionally, we assessed the feasibility of using aerial photographs to locate homes.RESULTS: The study took place in two communities in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa: Wheillers Farm, a relatively sparsely populated informal settlement, and a portion of Alexandra, an urban township with densely populated informal settlements. Ten participants in each community were asked to locate their homes on aerial photographs. Nine from Wheillers Farm and six from Alexandra were able to identify their homes. The total time taken by a research assistant, unfamiliar with the area, to locate 10 homes in each community using the given addresses was compared with the total time taken by a community volunteer with half an hour of training to locate the same homes using the device. Time taken to locate the ten households was reduced by 20% and 50% in each community respectively using the PDA/GPS device.CONCLUSION: In this pilot study we show that it is feasible to use a simple PDA/GPS device to locate the homes of patients. We found that in densely populated informal settlements, GPS technology is more accurate than aerial photos in identifying homes and more efficient than addresses provided by participants. Research assessing issues of, confidentiality and cost effectiveness would have to be undertaken before implementing PDA/GPS - based technology for this application. However, this PDA/GPS device could be used to reduce part of the burden on TB control programs.