Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Jennifer Stewart, MS¹, Jeanette Gibbon, MPH¹, and Mare Schumacher². (1) Epidemiology, Maricopa County Department of Public Health, 1010 E McDowell Rd Ste 300, Phoenix, AZ 85006, (2) Office of Epidemiology and Data Services, Maricopa County Department of Public Health, 1010 E. McDowell Ste. 300, Phoenix, AZ 85006, 602-372-2602, mareschumacher@mail.maricopa.gov

The high volume of outbreaks reported to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) inspired the MCDPH Office of Epidemiology to seek a faster way to interview individuals during investigations. As a result, MCDPH tested using email questionnaires for three large-scale outbreaks occurring in December 2004.

The first outbreak occurred in a wedding party of 63 guests. A questionnaire was emailed to all wedding guests, including 30 cases and 33 controls. The response rate for the first outbreak was 25/30 (83%) for cases and 10/33 (30%) for controls. The second outbreak involved a resort in Phoenix which hosted a party for 820 employees of a local business. Questionnaires were emailed to all attendees; 36/100 (36%) cases responded and no controls responded. The third outbreak was also at a resort which hosted a national conference with 260 attendees. Again, all attendees received a questionnaire via email to which 56/75 (75%) of cases and no controls responded.

The email method used in these three investigations proved to save significant amounts of staff time, made it easier to track down out-of-towners, and allowed completion of interviews within approximately 24-48 hours when responses were faxed (rather than mailed) back. However, the drawbacks were significant. First, not all outbreaks involve participants who all have email. Second, the response rate among cases is high but is low among controls, requiring interviewers to call controls. Third, faxing the survey (insures confidentiality) may have discouraged some from participating. Thus, the feasibility of email questionnaires is limited.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

• Develop a better understanding of the uses of emailed questionnaires in outbreak investigations.
• Describe limitations encountered with emailed questionnaires.
• Hypothesize future avenues to utilize emailed questionnaires and to improve response rates.

Keywords: Outbreaks, Internet Tools

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered