Abstract
BackgroundIn early 2020, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged and spread by community and nosocomial transmission. Effective contact tracing of potentially exposed health care workers is crucial for the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks in the health care setting.ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic through the real-time locating system (RTLS) and review of the electronic medical record (EMR) at the designated hospital for COVID-19 response in Singapore.MethodsOver a 2-day study period, all admitted patients with COVID-19, their ward locations, and the health care workers rostered to each ward were identified to determine the total number of potential contacts between patients with COVID-19 and health care workers. The numbers of staff-patient contacts determined by EMR reviews, RTLS-based contact tracing, and a combination of both methods were evaluated. The use of EMR-based and RTLS-based contact tracing methods was further validated by comparing their sensitivity and specificity against self-reported staff-patient contacts by health care workers.ResultsOf 796 potential staff-patient contacts (between 17 patients and 162 staff members), 104 (13.1%) were identified by both the RTLS and EMR, 54 (6.8%) by the RTLS alone, and 99 (12.4%) by the EMR alone; 539 (67.7%) were not identified through either method. Compared to self-reported contacts, EMR reviews had a sensitivity of 47.2% and a specificity of 77.9%, while the RTLS had a sensitivity of 72.2% and a specificity of 87.7%. The highest sensitivity was obtained by including all contacts identified by either the RTLS or the EMR (sensitivity 77.8%, specificity 73.4%).ConclusionsRTLS-based contact tracing showed higher sensitivity and specificity than EMR review. Integration of both methods provided the best performance for rapid contact tracing, although technical adjustments to the RTLS and increasing user compliance with wearing of RTLS tags remain necessary.
Highlights
In early 2020, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China; the disease spread by community and nosocomial transmission, infecting up to 3019 health care workers by February 12, 2020 [1].Contact tracing is used to identify individuals potentially exposed to infectious diseases; it is crucial for the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks [2,3]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we evaluated the comparative effectiveness of contact tracing through real-time locating system (RTLS) and the conventional method of identifying contacts from electronic medical record (EMR) and validated these methods against self-reporting of contacts by health care workers
Our study demonstrated that RTLS-based contact tracing has higher sensitivity and specificity than EMR-based contact tracing compared to self-reporting by staff
Summary
In early 2020, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China; the disease spread by community and nosocomial transmission, infecting up to 3019 health care workers by February 12, 2020 [1].Contact tracing is used to identify individuals potentially exposed to infectious diseases; it is crucial for the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks [2,3]. In early 2020, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China; the disease spread by community and nosocomial transmission, infecting up to 3019 health care workers by February 12, 2020 [1]. Failure to identify potentially exposed contacts puts other patients and health care workers at greater risk of infection [7]. Effective contact tracing of potentially exposed health care workers is crucial for the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks in the health care setting. The numbers of staff-patient contacts determined by EMR reviews, RTLS-based contact tracing, and a combination of both methods were evaluated. The use of EMR-based and RTLS-based contact tracing methods was further validated by comparing their sensitivity and specificity against self-reported staff-patient contacts by health care workers. Conclusions: RTLS-based contact tracing showed higher sensitivity and specificity than EMR review. Integration of both methods provided the best performance for rapid contact tracing, technical adjustments to the RTLS and increasing user compliance with wearing of RTLS tags remain necessary
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
