Introduction:
To improve case and contact management, rapid information exchange and task execution
times (TET) during the West African Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014 – 15,
the mHealth tool SORMAS (Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System)
was developed. To evaluate the ease of use (EoU) and usefulness, we assessed association
of TET in SORMAS field pilot with user's feedback and characteristics.
Methods:
Pilot took place in private and public health facilities of eight Local Government
Areas (LGA) within two Nigerian States. Users received simulated tasks regarding EVD
and avian influenza outbreaks over four weeks. After the pilot, users evaluated EoU
and usefulness with 10-level scales, with higher values representing better EoU and
usefulness. TET were calculated from database timestamps. Pearson's correlation coefficients
were calculated for EoU and usefulness. Uni- and multivariable regression analyses
were performed to study association of sex, type of health facility or State with
individual mean TET.
Results:
Out of 5403 tasks, 167 (4.1%) had adequate timestamps and were included in the analysis.
Median TET was 2 days (range 0 – 17). Univariable regression analysis showed statistically
significant association of TET only with the State (p = 0.02). After adjustment with
other factors, this association was no more statistically significant. Correlation
coefficient for tool usefulness in outbreak management was 0.24 (p = 0.36), for usefulness
in surveillance -0.25 (p = 0.33) and for EoU 0.22 (p = 0.40).
Discussio:
Although limited data, user evaluation seemed to be based on content information from
SORMAS rather than on operating the tool: TET were not statistically significantly
correlated with EoU and perceived usefulness. Long TET could not either be explained
by user related factors. To address issues of the pilot version, we launched an open
souce version of SORMAS in April 2017 including user interface and diease surveillance
improvements.
