Effectiveness of mobile and e-mail-based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system, Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India: A parallel group, exploratory randomized open trial

Introduction: Lack of knowledge among private reporting units and inadequate information provided during notification led to poor reporting in India’s surveillance system. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of two types of electronic systems (mobile and e-mail) for improving reporting to the Da...

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Main Authors: Abishek Stanislaus, Prabhakaran Jesudoss, Sendhilkumar Muthappan, Ponnaiah Manickam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-07-01
Series:Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1577_24
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author Abishek Stanislaus
Prabhakaran Jesudoss
Sendhilkumar Muthappan
Ponnaiah Manickam
author_facet Abishek Stanislaus
Prabhakaran Jesudoss
Sendhilkumar Muthappan
Ponnaiah Manickam
author_sort Abishek Stanislaus
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Lack of knowledge among private reporting units and inadequate information provided during notification led to poor reporting in India’s surveillance system. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of two types of electronic systems (mobile and e-mail) for improving reporting to the Daily Disease Surveillance System (DDSS) from private health sector facilities in Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India. Methods: We did an exploratory randomized, open trial with an equal allocation among all the private reporting units of DDSS. The data handlers from the reporting units were assigned to mobile or e-mail-based reporting after training. We measured and presented the consistency, completeness, timeliness, sensitivity, simplicity, acceptability, and usefulness as proportion. Results: We randomized 43 of 52 reporting units into mobile (n = 22) or e-mail (n = 21)-based reporting. The consistency of reporting was higher in mobile (77% vs 62, P = 0.33). The completeness of reports was nearly equal (96% in mobile vs 94% in e-mail; P < 0.05). However, it was different in timeliness (92% vs 88%; P < 0.05). Time trends in reporting by weeks were not significant (P = 0.43). Sensitivity was higher in mobile (96% vs 93%). The mobile-based reporting group felt that the method was much easier (82% vs 62%), willing to use repeatedly (96% vs 81%), and found useful (64% vs 57%). Conclusion: Both e-mail and mobile interventions have equally improved the consistency of reporting. The mobile-based reporting method was found to be more consistent and complete and maintain timeliness compared to the e-mail-based reporting method.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-e700525b9f404bd392284e6ab4e81d952025-08-20T04:02:28ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Family Medicine and Primary Care2249-48632278-71352025-07-011472759276710.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1577_24Effectiveness of mobile and e-mail-based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system, Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India: A parallel group, exploratory randomized open trialAbishek StanislausPrabhakaran JesudossSendhilkumar MuthappanPonnaiah ManickamIntroduction: Lack of knowledge among private reporting units and inadequate information provided during notification led to poor reporting in India’s surveillance system. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of two types of electronic systems (mobile and e-mail) for improving reporting to the Daily Disease Surveillance System (DDSS) from private health sector facilities in Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India. Methods: We did an exploratory randomized, open trial with an equal allocation among all the private reporting units of DDSS. The data handlers from the reporting units were assigned to mobile or e-mail-based reporting after training. We measured and presented the consistency, completeness, timeliness, sensitivity, simplicity, acceptability, and usefulness as proportion. Results: We randomized 43 of 52 reporting units into mobile (n = 22) or e-mail (n = 21)-based reporting. The consistency of reporting was higher in mobile (77% vs 62, P = 0.33). The completeness of reports was nearly equal (96% in mobile vs 94% in e-mail; P < 0.05). However, it was different in timeliness (92% vs 88%; P < 0.05). Time trends in reporting by weeks were not significant (P = 0.43). Sensitivity was higher in mobile (96% vs 93%). The mobile-based reporting group felt that the method was much easier (82% vs 62%), willing to use repeatedly (96% vs 81%), and found useful (64% vs 57%). Conclusion: Both e-mail and mobile interventions have equally improved the consistency of reporting. The mobile-based reporting method was found to be more consistent and complete and maintain timeliness compared to the e-mail-based reporting method.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1577_24daily disease surveillance systeme-mailmobileprivate health facilitiesreporting
spellingShingle Abishek Stanislaus
Prabhakaran Jesudoss
Sendhilkumar Muthappan
Ponnaiah Manickam
Effectiveness of mobile and e-mail-based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system, Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India: A parallel group, exploratory randomized open trial
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
daily disease surveillance system
e-mail
mobile
private health facilities
reporting
title Effectiveness of mobile and e-mail-based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system, Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India: A parallel group, exploratory randomized open trial
title_full Effectiveness of mobile and e-mail-based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system, Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India: A parallel group, exploratory randomized open trial
title_fullStr Effectiveness of mobile and e-mail-based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system, Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India: A parallel group, exploratory randomized open trial
title_full_unstemmed Effectiveness of mobile and e-mail-based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system, Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India: A parallel group, exploratory randomized open trial
title_short Effectiveness of mobile and e-mail-based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system, Poonamallee Health District, Tamil Nadu, India: A parallel group, exploratory randomized open trial
title_sort effectiveness of mobile and e mail based reporting on consistency in private health facilities for the disease surveillance system poonamallee health district tamil nadu india a parallel group exploratory randomized open trial
topic daily disease surveillance system
e-mail
mobile
private health facilities
reporting
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1577_24
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