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A Report on Statistics of an Online Self-Screening Platform for Covid-19 and Its Effectiveness in Iran Publisher Pubmed



Azadnajafabad S1 ; Moghaddam SS1 ; Rezaei N1 ; Ghasemi E1 ; Naderimagham S1 ; Azmin M1 ; Mohammadi E1 ; Jamshidi K1 ; Fattahi N1 ; Zokaei H1 ; Mehregan A1 ; Damerchilu B1 ; Fathi P1 ; Erfani H2 Show All Authors
Authors
  1. Azadnajafabad S1
  2. Moghaddam SS1
  3. Rezaei N1
  4. Ghasemi E1
  5. Naderimagham S1
  6. Azmin M1
  7. Mohammadi E1
  8. Jamshidi K1
  9. Fattahi N1
  10. Zokaei H1
  11. Mehregan A1
  12. Damerchilu B1
  13. Fathi P1
  14. Erfani H2
  15. Norouzinejad A2
  16. Gouya MM2
  17. Jamshidi H3
  18. Malekzadeh R4
  19. Larijani B5
  20. Farzadfar F1, 5
Show Affiliations
Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. Center for Communicable Diseases Control, Ministry of Health & Medical Education, Tehran, Iran
  3. 3. School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  4. 4. Digestive Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  5. 5. Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Source: International Journal of Health Policy and Management Published:2022


Abstract

Background: The most recent emerging infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is pandemic now. Iran is a country with community transmission of the disease. Telehealth tools have been proved to be useful in controlling public health disasters. We developed an online self-screening platform to offer a population-wide strategy to control the massive influx to medical centers. Methods: We developed a platform operating based on given history by participants, including sex, age, weight, height, location, primary symptoms and signs, and high risk past medical histories. Based on a decision-making algorithm, participants were categorized into four levels of suspected cases, requiring diagnostic tests, supportive care, not suspected cases. We made comparisons with Iran STEPs (STEPwise approach to Surveillance) 2016 study and data from the Statistical Centre of Iran to assess population representativeness of data. Also, we made a comparison with officially confirmed cases to investigate the effectiveness of the platform. A multilevel mixed-effects Poisson regression was used to check the association of visiting platform and deaths caused by COVID-19. Results: About 310 000 individuals participated in the online self-screening platform in 33 days. The majority of participants were in younger age groups, and males involved more. A significant number of participants were screened not to be suspected or needing supportive care, and only 10.4% of males and 12.0% of females had suspected results of COVID-19. The penetration of the platform was assessed to be acceptable. A correlation coefficient of 0.51 was calculated between suspected results and confirmed cases of the disease, expressing the platform’s effectiveness. Conclusion: Implementation of a proper online self-screening tool can mitigate population panic during wide-spread epidemics and relieve massive influx to medical centers. Also, an evidence-based education platform can help fighting infodemic. Noticeable utilization and verified effectiveness of such platform validate the potency of telehealth tools in controlling epidemics and pandemics. © 2022 The Author(s).
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