Predictors of mask-wearing during the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from South Africa

Background In the absence of a vaccine, the global spread of COVID-19 during 2020 has necessitated non-pharmaceutical interventions to curb the rise of cases. Purpose The article uses the health belief model and a novel rapid mobile survey to examine correlates of reported mask-wearing as a non-pharmaceutical intervention in South Africa between May and August 2020. Methods Two-way tabulations and multivariable analysis via logistic regression modeling describe correlations between reported mask-wearing and factors of interest among a sample of 7074 adults in a two-period national longitudinal survey, the National Income Dynamics Study-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM). Results In line with the health belief model, results showed that self-efficacy, the prevalence of others’ mask-wearing in the same district, and affluence were positively associated with reported mask-wearing. Those who reported staying at home were significantly less likely to report wearing a mask. There was little evidence that the expected severity of the disease if contracted, affects these decisions. Hypertension, obesity, or being overweight (measured three years earlier) did not have a significant association with mask-wearing. The prevalence of mask-wearing increased significantly from May to August 2020 as COVID-19 cases increased and lockdown restrictions were eased. Contrary to the health belief model, we found that despite having a higher mortality risk, the elderly had significantly lower odds of mask-wearing. Conclusion In South Africa, the mask-wearing adherence has increased rapidly. It is concerning that the elderly had lower odds of mask-wearing. This should be examined further in future research.

Perilaku Sosial Masyarakat Bengkulu terhadap Penggunaan Media Sosial sebagai Diseminasi Informasi, Bimbingan Pribadi-Sosial dan Deradikalisasi

Tujuan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (PkM) ini untuk memotret perilaku sosial masyarakat Bengkulu terhadap penggunaan media sosial sebagai diseminasi informasi, bimbingan pribadi-sosial dan deradikasisasi. Kegiatan pengabdian ini dilaksanakan pada tahun 2020 di provinsi Bengkulu. Sampel berjumlah 400 responden. Pengumpulan data menggunakan skema mobile survey, melalui proses deep interview dan kuisioner via mobile. Analisis data menggunakan aplikasi survey (alvara-analytic). Hasil kegiatan pengabdian diperoleh temuan (1) Masyarakat melek digital, potret sikap dan perilaku masyarakat menunjukkan bahwa mereka aktif menggunakan media sosial sebagai sarana berbagi informasi melalui pemanfaatan fitur-fitur yang ada untuk menyebarkan informasi; (2) Penggunaan dan diseminasi media sosial efektif dapat membimbing masyarakat (pribadi-sosial) terhadap pembentukan sikap dan perilaku dalam cegah tangkal paham radikalisme. Kegiatan pengabdian diperoleh kesimpulan indeks potensi radikalisme di Provinsi Bengkulu pada tahun 2020 berada dalam kategori rendah, hal ini menandai bahwa masyarakat mampu dengan baik menggunakan media sosial sebagai deradikalisasi.�The purpose of this community service is to photograph the social behavior of the Bengkulu people towards the use of social media as information dissemination, personal-social guidance and deradicalization. This service activity was carried out in 2020 in Bengkulu province. The research sample amounted to 400 respondents. Data collection uses a mobile survey scheme, through a deep interview process and questionnaires via mobile. Data analysis using survey application (alvara-analytic). The results of the service activities obtained findings: (1) Digital literacy communities, portraits of people's attitudes and behavior indicate that they are actively using social media as a means of sharing information through the use of existing features to disseminate information; (2) The effective use and dissemination of social media can guide the community (personal-social) towards the formation of attitudes and behavior in preventing radicalism. The service activities concluded that the index of potential for radicalism in Bengkulu Province in 2020 was in the low category, this indicates that the community is able to properly use social media as deradicalization.

Poverty in South Africa

The chapter examines poverty in the post-apartheid dispensation (in South Africa), taking into account the various studies that have been undertaken regarding poverty since 1994. Because the South African statistical agency—Statistics South Africa—has not collected poverty data since 2015, the chapter uses the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) dataset to estimate poverty for the 2008–17 period while analysing existing data and estimates prior to 2017. An attempt to cover the period after 2017 is done using the NIDS-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) which is the mobile survey that was undertaken using the NIDS respondents to gauge the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis focuses on income poverty although other measures such as the multidimensional poverty index are also estimated and analysed. Relative to expenditure, the income approach in measuring poverty provides descriptive information on household welfare and it is useful for policy analysis and programme evaluation as the literature explains. The chapter concludes that although it appears that income poverty has been declining, it remains very high and it is higher for women, for those living in rural areas, and for the African/black population group. In addition, the severity and intensity of poverty has not changed much since 1994.

Investigating the Influence of Personalised Gamification on Mobile Survey User Experience

Gamification in healthcare has shown to increase user motivation and treatment adherence. Personalisation strategies have the potential to create sustainable health change and user motivation. In striving for personalisation, surveys are often used as an easy tool to collect information about the user. But lengthy surveys are often tedious and demotivating, provoking bad respondent behaviour which results in a loss of data quality. Gamified surveys can enhance respondent behaviour but are labour-intensive to develop. This study explores the effect of a re-usable mobile survey application, using personalised gamification, on user experience. In an A/B study setting with 28 participants, The Hexad Player Type Framework is used to determine the player type of the user and personalise the survey accordingly. Results have shown that the overall user experience of the gamified application is higher than the traditional survey and 37.5% of gamified users perceived the duration of the survey as shorter than the actual time, compared to 20% of the respondents of the traditional survey. No significant difference in data quality has been detected, as loss in data quality remained limited in both versions. Future work should explore the influence of more elaborate game elements in a larger population.

Testing Digital Methods of Patient-Reported Outcomes Data Collection: A prospective, cluster randomized trial to test text messaging and mobile surveys. (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The growth of mobile and digital health data collection continues to accelerate in healthcare. Patient-reported outcomes are those data points collected from patients and there is a growing body of work to use mobile and digital methods to generate these data. Multiple methods exist in using technology to gather data with mobile surveys and text messaging. There remains a gap in evaluating these methods in prospective, randomized studies. OBJECTIVE To prospectively investigate two common methods of remote patient-reported outcomes data collection. The study sought to analyze response and engagement rates through two modalities including bi-directional text messaging or mobile surveys. METHODS Prospective, block randomized trial of adult patients undergoing elective sports medicine and orthopedic procedures over 6 weeks. The primary objective was to determine if the method of digital patient engagement would impact response and completion rates. The primary outcome was response rate and total competition of patient reported outcomes questionnaires. RESULTS 127 participants were block randomized into either receiving a mobile survey (n=63) delivered as a hyperlink or were asked the same questions through an automated conversational text messaging (n=64). Gender, age, number of comorbidities, number of opioid tablets prescribed were similar across messaging arms. Overall engagement over the immediate post-operative was similar between the messaging arms. Prolonged engagement past post-operative day 4 was higher in the mobile survey arm at day 7 (95% vs. 56%). Patients with more invasive procedures showed a trend toward being responsive at day 4 as compared to non-responders. CONCLUSIONS As digital platforms become more commonly used in health care, testing the various options to engage patients to gather data is crucial to inform future care and research. We found that globally bi-directional text messaging and mobile surveys were comparable in response and engagement rates, however mobile surveys may trend toward higher response rates over longer periods of time.

Australian Mobile Survey 2021: Mobile Buying and Churn Drivers Stable

Venture Insights has been surveying Australian mobile consumers annually since 2018. The latest survey was conducted in March 2021 and included 1,019 respondents. The results show that price and network performance remain the main purchasing drivers for mobile services, with more than 90% of respondents rating them as important or very important. On price, 86% did not expect to spend more each year for their mobile phone services, which is consistent with previous surveys. The persistent importance of price shows that mobile services are seen as a commodity by many customers. A total of 38% of respondents were considering churning their mobile phone service; of these respondents, 40% chose price as the key churn driver. There is consistent focus on Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) driven by price. The survey results suggested that the total market share for MVNOs could increase by 6 percentage points, if all respondents indicating a move to an MVNO actually did so. Only 20% of respondents indicated they were willing to pay more for 5G mobile services or handsets. A majority (55%) of respondents change their mobile phones every 2-3 years; 39% said they would consider purchasing a recycled/refurbished mobile phone at a lower price.

MAES_GR: A Web-Based, Spatially Enabled Field Survey Platform for the MAES Implementation in Greece

This study presents a standardized approach to collecting, registering, and reporting field-survey data for baseline MAES (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services) information in Greece. This is accomplished through a web-based platform (MAES_GR) exclusively developed under the relevant, nation-wide LIFE-IP 4 NATURA project. Based on the European Commission’s guidance for ecosystem condition (EC) and ecosystem services (ES) MAES studies, we conceptualized and structured an online platform to support EC and ES assessments, integrating all relevant fields of information needed for registering EC and ES parameters. A novel algorithm calculating EC was also developed and it is available as an integral part of the platform. The use of the MAES_GR platform was evaluated during nationwide field surveys efforts, increasing time efficiency and reducing costs. Field recording of EC and ES pinpoint spatial priorities for ecosystem restoration, conservation and sustainable development. This work highlights that MAES implementation can be favored by the use of technology tools such as mobile survey platforms, developed according to scientific needs and policy guidelines. Such tools, apart from the data inventory phase, can be used for data analysis, synthesis and extraction, providing timely, standardized information suitable for reporting at the local, regional, national and European Union scale.

Study on the feasibility of data sharing and collecting consumer wearable and mobile survey data to assess physical and mental health status : data quality and study challenges using an opt-in panel

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The use of opt-in panel for health research and smartphones are still in their infancy, and the impact of how opt-in panel members share their health data for a different purpose for research is not yet well explored more specifically data from consumer wearable devices. Thus, we implemented the eCaregiving study, a two-phase feasibility study, to assesses opt-in panel members' behavior to share their health data with researchers and establish a linkage between consumer wearable devices data and self-reported outcome. The first phase was about assessing opt-in panel members to share their patient health data and their interest to participate in sharing their wearable devices' data using a survey questionnaire -- the panel is composed of healthy non-Hispanic white mothers. The second phase of eCaregiving was to recruit those who expressed interest in sharing their wearable device data and participate in the self-reported outcome mobile survey questionnaire. We grouped our participants into those who use Fitbit and those who do not use any wearable devices, and the later was given a Fitbit Charger HR as an incentive for their participation. Although we targeted fifty participants from each group, we were able to recruit only five participants from those who use Fitbit, and we achieved our target for those who never used any wearable device. The feasibility study showed that the interest to participate in the study did not translate into actual participation. Although we gave incentives to these participants, we found a discrepancy in the actual participation, and this discrepancy warranted further studies to determine the exact reasons for non-participation. Throughout this study, our participants received minimal guidance and training on how to use wearables devices or how to synchronize their device with the mobile application -- e4 research app. We found that mobile survey has better participation, attrition, and completion rate and completion time than the traditional surveys. We also investigated the data quality from the consumer wearable device, and we found that number of days captured of step count is significant. We also found that the number of sleep hours captured is low, but they are better than another controlled study where the participants have trained to use these consumer wearable devices. All in all, our study can be used as a guideline for future studies on mhealth and wearable devices to develop efficient protocols to maximize data quality from wearable devices and mobile surveys. The study provides a systematic approach to recruit and link subjective and objective data for more actionable insight. Besides, we reported the impact of incentives on the participation rate and the attrition rate in mobile surveys. Overall, mobile surveys and wearable devices can complement each other and enhance our understanding of the overall daily activity of our participants. The remaining of this thesis is structured as follows; the first chapter introduces the first paper entitled non-Hispanic white mothers' willingness to share personal health data with researchers: survey results from an opt-in panel. The final chapter introduces the second paper entitled study on the feasibility of collecting consumer wearable and mobile survey data to assess physical and mental health status -- data quality and study chall