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Perceived usefulness of COVID-19 tools for contact tracing among contact tracers in Korea
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Seonyeong Gong, Jong Youn Moon, Jaehun Jung
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Epidemiol Health. 2022;44:e2022106. Published online November 15, 2022
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2022106
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 Abstract
Summary
 PDF Supplementary Material
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES
In Korea, contact tracing for coronavirus disease 2019 is conducted using information from credit card records, handwritten visitor logs, KI-Pass (QR code), and the Safe Call system after an interview. We investigated the usefulness of these tools for contact tracing.
METHODS An anonymous survey was conducted for 2 months (July to September 2021) among contact tracers throughout Korea. The questionnaire consisted of 4 parts: (1) demographic characteristics; (2) the usefulness of each tool for contact tracing; (3) the order in which information was checked during contact tracing; and (4) the match rate between tools for contact tracing, screening test rate, response rate, and helpfulness (rated on a Likert scale).
RESULTS In total, 190 individuals completed the survey. When asked to rate the usefulness of each tool for contact tracing on a Likert scale, most respondents (86.3%) provided positive responses for credit card records, while the most common responses for handwritten visitor logs were negative. The highest percentage of positive responses for helpfulness was found for KI-Pass (91.1%), followed in descending order by credit card records (82.6%), Safe Call (78.2%), and handwritten visitor logs (22.1%).
CONCLUSIONS Over 80% of participants provided positive responses for credit card records, KI-Pass, and Safe Call data, while approximately 50% provided negative responses regarding the usefulness of handwritten visitor logs. Our findings highlight the need to unify systems for post-interview contact tracing to increase their convenience for contact tracers, as well as the need to improve tools utilizing handwritten visitor logs for digitally vulnerable groups.
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Summary
Korean summary
본 연구는 국내 역학조사 담당자들을 대상으로 시행한 설문조사를 중심으로 면담조사 후 추가적으로 실시하는 다양한 접촉자 추적 방법의 유용성에 대한 분석을 목표로 한다. 응답자 중 약 80% 이상이 카드결제기록, KI-Pass, GPS 및 CCTV 정보의 유용성에 대해 긍정적으로 응답하였다. 반면 약 50%는 수기명부의 유용성에 대해 부정적으로 응답하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 역학조사관과 사용자 모두의 편의를 위해 역학조사 방법의 일원화가 필요할 뿐만 아니라 디지털 취약 계층을 위해 수기명부를 대체할 수 있는 시스템의 필요성을 시사한다.
Key Message
We conducted an anonymous online survey to assess the usefulness of tools for contact tracing for COVID-19 in Korea. Over 80% of participants provided positive responses regarding the usefulness of credit card records, KI-Pass, and Safe Call data, while approximately 50% provided negative responses regarding the usefulness of handwritten visitor logs. Our findings highlight the need to unify contact tracing systems to increase their convenience for contact tracers.
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