Comparison of three methods for ascertainment of contact information relevant to respiratory pathogen transmission in encounter networks
Comparison of three methods for ascertainment of contact information relevant to respiratory pathogen transmission in encounter networks
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DOI：
10.1186/1471-2334-10-166
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发表时间：
2010-06-10
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
McVernon, Jodie
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
McCaw, James M.;Forbes, Kristian;McVernon, Jodie
背景：考虑有针对性干预措施的感染数学模型非常依赖于假定的人口混合模式。我们报告了一项试点研究，旨在评估三种不同的方法（一种回顾性方法，两种前瞻性方法），以获得与确定这些混合模式相关的接触数据。方法：65名成年人被要求在6天的研究期间，使用一种新颖的方法，即研究参与者的物理位置的变化触发数据输入，记录他们在每个访问地点的社交遭遇。采用交叉设计，所有参与者分别在3天的纸质日记和3天的电子记录设备（PDA）上记录他们的遭遇。参与者被随机分配到第一种前瞻性记录方法。结果：两种方法都比研究前问卷调查获得了更多的接触，但使用纸质日记的确定优于PDA(平均差异：4.52 （95% CI 0.28, 8.77）。与PDA相比，纸质日记更容易被参与者接受。统计分析证实，我们的结果与欧洲大规模调查报告的结果大致一致。观察到家庭规模（趋势0.14,95% CI (0.06, 0.22), P < 0.001）和构成（儿童存在0.37,95% CI (0.17, 0.56), P < 0.001）与报告的接触者总数之间存在关联，突出了基于家庭特征和年龄的抽样研究人群的重要性。在第三个研究日，仍有新的接触者被记录，但依从性下降了，这表明样本天数的最佳数量代表了个人数据的完整性和质量之间的权衡。结论：与其他方法相比，该研究基于位置的报告设计允许更大的范围来检查在一系列环境中遭遇特征的差异。从这类工作中获得的动态传播模型的改进参数化将有助于开发更强大的决策支持工具，以协助卫生决策者和规划者。
Background: Mathematical models of infection that consider targeted interventions are exquisitely dependent on the assumed mixing patterns of the population. We report on a pilot study designed to assess three different methods (one retrospective, two prospective) for obtaining contact data relevant to the determination of these mixing patterns.Methods: 65 adults were asked to record their social encounters in each location visited during 6 study days using a novel method whereby a change in physical location of the study participant triggered data entry. Using a cross-over design, all participants recorded encounters on 3 days in a paper diary and 3 days using an electronic recording device (PDA). Participants were randomised to first prospective recording method.Results: Both methods captured more contacts than a pre-study questionnaire, but ascertainment using the paper diary was superior to the PDA (mean difference: 4.52 (95% CI 0.28, 8.77). Paper diaries were found more acceptable to the participants compared with the PDA. Statistical analysis confirms that our results are broadly consistent with those reported from large-scale European based surveys. An association between household size (trend 0.14, 95% CI (0.06, 0.22), P < 0.001) and composition (presence of child 0.37, 95% CI (0.17, 0.56), P < 0.001) and the total number of reported contacts was observed, highlighting the importance of sampling study populations based on household characteristics as well as age. New contacts were still being recorded on the third study day, but compliance had declined, indicating that the optimal number of sample days represents a trade-off between completeness and quality of data for an individual.Conclusions: The study's location-based reporting design allows greater scope compared to other methods for examining differences in the characteristics of encounters over a range of environments. Improved parameterisation of dynamic transmission models gained from work of this type will aid in the development of more robust decision support tools to assist health policy makers and planners.