Soriano, Joan BFernandez, Estevede Astorza, AlvaroPerez de Llano, Luis AlejandroFernandez-Villar, AlbertoCarnicer-Pont, DolorsAlcazar-Navarrete, BernardinoGarcia, ArturoMorales, AurelioLobo, MariaMaroto, MarcosFerreras, EloySoriano, CeciliaDel Rio-Bermudez, CarlosVega-Piris, LorenaBasagana, XavierMuncunill Farreny, JosepGarcía-Cosío, BorjaLumbreras, SaraCatalina, CarlosAlzaga, Jose MaríaGomez Quilon, DavidAlberto Valdivia, Carlosde lara, CeliaAncochea, Julio2024-09-132024-09-132020-07Soriano JB, Fernandez E, De Astorza A, Perez De Llano LA, Fernandez-Villar A, Carnicer-Pont D, et al. Hospital Epidemics Tracker (HEpiTracker): Description and Pilot Study of a Mobile App to Track COVID-19 in Hospital Workers. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020 Jul;6(3):475-87.2369-2960http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13003/17050https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/22929Background: Hospital workers have been the most frequently and severely affected professional group during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have a big impact on transmission. In this context, innovative tools are required to measure the symptoms compatible with COVID-19, the spread of infection, and testing capabilities within hospitals in real time. Objective: We aimed to develop and test an effective and user-friendly tool to identify and track symptoms compatible with COVID-19 in hospital workers. Methods: We developed and pilot tested Hospital Epidemics Tracker (HEpiTracker), a newly designed app to track the spread of COVID-19 among hospital workers. Hospital staff in 9 hospital centers across 5 Spanish regions (Andalusia, Balearics, Catalonia, Galicia, and Madrid) were invited to download the app on their phones and to register their daily body temperature, COVID-19-compatible symptoms, and general health score, as well as any polymerase chain reaction and serological test results. Results: A total of 477 hospital staff participated in the study between April 8 and June 2, 2020. Of note, both health-related (n=329) and non-health-related (n=148) professionals participated in the study; over two-thirds of participants (68.8%) were health workers (43.4% physicians and 25.4% nurses), while the proportion of non-health-related workers by center ranged from 40% to 85%. Most participants were female (n=323, 67.5%), with a mean age of 45.4 years (SD 10.6). Regarding smoking habits, 13.0% and 34.2% of participants were current or former smokers, respectively. The daily reporting of symptoms was highly variable across participating hospitals; although we observed a decline in adherence after an initial participation peak in some hospitals, other sites were characterized by low participation rates throughout the study period. Conclusions: HEpiTracker is an already available tool to monitor COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in hospital workers. This tool has already been tested in real conditions. HEpiTracker is available in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. It has the potential to become a customized asset to be used in future COVID-19 pandemic waves and other environments.enghttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/appCOVID-19Coronaviruse-medicineMonitoringSymptomsSurveillanceCoronavirus InfectionsBody TemperatureSARS-CoV-2SpainAdultHumansHealth StatusMass ScreeningMiddle AgedMobile ApplicationsHospitalsBetacoronavirusPandemicsPopulation SurveillanceEpidemicsPersonnel, HospitalMalePilot ProjectsFemaleTelemedicineCOVID-19DisclosurePneumonia, Viralresearch articleAttribution 4.0 International3284585263475-48710.2196/21653JMIR Public Health and Surveillanceopen accessBetacoronavirusTelemedicinaFemeninoCOVID-19HospitalesAplicaciones MóvilesMasculinoProyectos PilotoHumanosPersona de Mediana EdadSARS-CoV-2Tamizaje MasivoEstado de SaludVigilancia de la PoblaciónEpidemiasPersonal de HospitalTemperatura CorporalNeumonía ViralAdultoRevelaciónInfecciones por CoronavirusEspañaPandemias2-s2.0-85097886831578947300044