“Aarogya Setu”- India’s COVID-19 contact tracing mobile application: an assessment of awareness and utility among residents of India during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: As the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, various steps were taken to curb its spread. Government of India introduced contact tracing “Aarogya Setu” app. In this study we assessed the awareness and utility of the app among the residents of India which in turn affects its usage.Methods: This was a community based online cross-section survey. The snowball sampling technique was used for data collection. The questionnaire was developed to understand the knowledge and practices pertaining to COVID-19 but for publication purpose, items related to Aarogya Setu application have been analysed. The data was collected in the 1st week of July 2020. Frequency tables for various socio-demographic details of the participants were formed. Chi Square test of significance was used to analyse the awareness and utility of the app against sociodemographic characteristics.Results: Majority of the participants were aware about the app, using it and found it useful. The awareness and use of the app was found to be significantly associated with gender, age, education and occupation and the usefulness was found to be significantly associated with gender and occupation. Awareness was found to be higher among males, age group 45-59 years, with professional degree and government employees.Conclusions: These findings can be taken by policy makers while considering promotion of the application. Future steps should involve developing relevant training and communication material to enhance the use of the application