tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Spat Spatiotemporal Epidemiol. 2020 Feb;32:100321. doi: 10.1016/j.sste.2019.100321. Epub 2019 Dec 18. [h=1]Using global positioning system technology and Google My Maps in follow-up studies-An experience from influenza surveillance study, Chennai, India.[/h]
Mohan V[SUP]1[/SUP], Kumar M S[SUP]1[/SUP], Kumar CPG[SUP]1[/SUP], Yuvaraj J[SUP]1[/SUP], Krishnan A[SUP]2[/SUP], Amarchand R[SUP]2[/SUP], Prabu R[SUP]3[/SUP].
[h=3]Author information[/h]
[h=3]Abstract[/h] A multi-centric influenza surveillance conducted among 1500 elderly participants in Chennai, India, required weekly visits to the participants regularly for three years. Difficulties were faced in locating and navigating to households of the participants due to vast study area, adverse weather conditions and staff attrition, which affected data quality. To overcome these difficulties, we devised a new way of using the 'Global Position System' (GPS) and 'Google My Maps'. GPS coordinates of all participants' households were collected and merged with their demographic data using 'Microsoft excel'. Dataset was uploaded to 'Google My Maps' in appropriate layers. This map was used to locate and navigate to households of the participants and the average working hours in the field reduced by18% even in difficult circumstances. The average number of supervisory visits increased by 150%. This method will greatly facilitate the data collection in cohort based research studies.
Copyright ? 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
[h=4]KEYWORDS:[/h] Challenges; Cohort-studies; GPS; Google My Maps; Navigation
PMID: 32007286 DOI: 10.1016/j.sste.2019.100321
Mohan V[SUP]1[/SUP], Kumar M S[SUP]1[/SUP], Kumar CPG[SUP]1[/SUP], Yuvaraj J[SUP]1[/SUP], Krishnan A[SUP]2[/SUP], Amarchand R[SUP]2[/SUP], Prabu R[SUP]3[/SUP].
[h=3]Author information[/h]
[h=3]Abstract[/h] A multi-centric influenza surveillance conducted among 1500 elderly participants in Chennai, India, required weekly visits to the participants regularly for three years. Difficulties were faced in locating and navigating to households of the participants due to vast study area, adverse weather conditions and staff attrition, which affected data quality. To overcome these difficulties, we devised a new way of using the 'Global Position System' (GPS) and 'Google My Maps'. GPS coordinates of all participants' households were collected and merged with their demographic data using 'Microsoft excel'. Dataset was uploaded to 'Google My Maps' in appropriate layers. This map was used to locate and navigate to households of the participants and the average working hours in the field reduced by18% even in difficult circumstances. The average number of supervisory visits increased by 150%. This method will greatly facilitate the data collection in cohort based research studies.
Copyright ? 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
[h=4]KEYWORDS:[/h] Challenges; Cohort-studies; GPS; Google My Maps; Navigation
PMID: 32007286 DOI: 10.1016/j.sste.2019.100321