A population-based controlled experiment assessing the epidemiological impact of digital contact tracing

Research areas:

• Applications - Health

Year:

2021

Type of Publication:

Article

Authors:

• Rodríguez, Pablo
• Graña, Santiago
• Alvarez-León, Eva Elisa
• Battaglini, Manuela
• Darias, Francisco Javier
• Hernán, Miguel A.
• López, Raquel
• Llaneza, Paloma
• Martín, Maria Cristina
• Ramirez-Rubio, Oriana
• Romaní, Adriana
• Suárez-Rodríguez, Berta
• Sánchez-Monedero, Javier
• Arenas, Alex
• Lacasa, Lucas

Journal:

Nature Communications

Volume:

12

Number:

1

Pages:

587

Month:

January

ISSN:

2041-1723

BibTex:

@article{Pablo Rodríguez2021, author = "Pablo Rodr{\'i}guez and Santiago Gra{\~n}a and Eva Elisa Alvarez-Le{\'o}n and Manuela Battaglini and Francisco Javier Darias and Miguel A. Hern{\'a}n and Raquel L{\'o}pez and Paloma Llaneza and Maria Cristina Mart{\'i}n and Oriana Ramirez-Rubio and Adriana Roman{\'i} and Berta Su{\'a}rez-Rodr{\'i}guez and Javier S{\'a}nchez-Monedero and Alex Arenas and Lucas Lacasa", abstract = "While Digital contact tracing (DCT) has been argued to be a valuable complement to manual tracing in the containment of COVID-19, no empirical evidence of its effectiveness is available to date. Here, we report the results of a 4-week population-based controlled experiment that took place in La Gomera (Canary Islands, Spain) between June and July 2020, where we assessed the epidemiological impact of the Spanish DCT app Radar Covid. After a substantial communication campaign, we estimate that at least 33% of the population adopted the technology and further showed relatively high adherence and compliance as well as a quick turnaround time. The app detects about 6.3 close-contacts per primary simulated infection, a significant percentage being contacts with strangers, although the spontaneous follow-up rate of these notified cases is low. Overall, these results provide experimental evidence of the potential usefulness of DCT during an epidemic outbreak in a real population.", awards = "JCR (2021): 17.694 Position: 6/73 (Q1) Category: MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES", comments = "JCR (2021): 17.694 Position: 6/73 (Q1) Category: MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES", issn = "2041-1723", journal = "Nature Communications", month = "January", note = "JCR (2021): 17.694 Position: 6/73 (Q1) Category: MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES", number = "1", pages = "587", title = "{A} population-based controlled experiment assessing the epidemiological impact of digital contact tracing", url = "doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20817-6", volume = "12", year = "2021", }

Note:

JCR (2021): 17.694 Position: 6/73 (Q1) Category: MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES

Abstract:

While Digital contact tracing (DCT) has been argued to be a valuable complement to manual tracing in the containment of COVID-19, no empirical evidence of its effectiveness is available to date. Here, we report the results of a 4-week population-based controlled experiment that took place in La Gomera (Canary Islands, Spain) between June and July 2020, where we assessed the epidemiological impact of the Spanish DCT app Radar Covid. After a substantial communication campaign, we estimate that at least 33% of the population adopted the technology and further showed relatively high adherence and compliance as well as a quick turnaround time. The app detects about 6.3 close-contacts per primary simulated infection, a significant percentage being contacts with strangers, although the spontaneous follow-up rate of these notified cases is low. Overall, these results provide experimental evidence of the potential usefulness of DCT during an epidemic outbreak in a real population.

Comments:

JCR (2021): 17.694 Position: 6/73 (Q1) Category: MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES