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European Journal of Epidemiology
Published in: European Journal of Epidemiology 10/2010

01-10-2010 | METHODS

Interactive Voice Response and web-based questionnaires for population-based infectious disease reporting

Authors: Christin Bexelius, Hanna Merk, Sven Sandin, Olof Nyrén, Sharon Kühlmann-Berenzon, Annika Linde, Jan-Eric Litton

Published in: European Journal of Epidemiology | Issue 10/2010

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Abstract

The authors aimed to evaluate the web and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) phone service as vehicles in population-based infectious disease surveillance. Fourteen thousand subjects were randomly selected from the Swedish population register and asked to prospectively report all respiratory tract infections, including Influenza-like Illness (ILI—clinical symptoms indicative of influenza but no laboratory confirmation), immediately as they occurred during a 36-week period starting October 2007. Participants were classified as belonging to the web or IVR group based on their choice of technology for initial registration. In all, 1,297 individuals registered via IVR while 2,044 chose the web. The latter were more often young and well-educated than those registered via IVR. Overall, 52% of the participants reported at least one infection episode. The risk of an infectious disease report was 14% (95% CI: 6, 22%) higher in the web group than in the IVR group. For ILI the excess was 27% (95% CI: 11, 47%). After adjustments for socio-demographic factors, statistically non-significant excesses of 1 and 8% remained, indicating trivial differences potentially attributable to the two reporting techniques. With attention to confounding, it should be possible to combine the web and IVR for simple reporting of infectious disease symptoms.
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Metadata
Title
Interactive Voice Response and web-based questionnaires for population-based infectious disease reporting
Authors
Christin Bexelius
Hanna Merk
Sven Sandin
Olof Nyrén
Sharon Kühlmann-Berenzon
Annika Linde
Jan-Eric Litton
Publication date
01-10-2010
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
European Journal of Epidemiology / Issue 10/2010
Print ISSN: 0393-2990
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7284
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-010-9484-y

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