A National Survey on use and perceived usefulness of the Irish COVID Tracker contact tracing App (Preprint)

Abstract

Novel software applications (“Apps”) that can potentially simplify the laborious work of manual contact tracing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are a tempting prospect. Given this potential, many countries have designed, developed and deployed Apps before their efficacy has been established. The Irish health service launched the “COVID Tracker” App on the 7th July 2020 and 8 months later it is being used by 35% of those over 16 in Ireland.

Conduct a national survey with a large sample of the Irish population to gather public opinion of the COVID Tracker App and its contribution to the national COVID-19 response.

A 37-item questionnaire deployed online for 10 days in early October 2020.

There were 2,889 complete responses to the survey. Responses were received from all 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland and the cohort was younger, more female-predominant and had higher educational attainment than the population. Of the 2,889 respondents, 2,741 (95%) had downloaded the App at some point, while 2,553 (88%) were still using it. For the 188 respondents who had stopped using the App, 116 respondents (62%) reported battery related concerns. For the 2,741 participants who had downloaded the App at some point, 2,374 (87%) reported the App was easy to use and 2,250 (82%) agreed it looked professional and of high quality. Regarding the main function of the App, 2,333 (81%) felt this was clear, and 92% of these App users stated the main function was to assist contact tracing. Overall, 1,265 (44%) respondents stated they believe the App is helping the national effort, while 1,089 (38%) were unsure. Younger respondents, female respondents, those in low-risk groups and those less worried about COVID-19 and were more negative about the clarity of the App’s main function and its usefulness.

Contact tracing Apps have the potential to augment traditional contact tracing methods. Our research describes general positivity toward the Irish COVID Tracker App but also highlights the need for users to be updated regularly on its effectiveness. While the effectiveness of digital contact tracing is difficult to ascertain, all countries using contact tracing Apps must strive to ensure citizens are clear on any contribution such Apps are making to the pandemic response. Data describing how many notified users were already aware of their recent close contact with an infected case, and if the warning actually prevented people mixing, would constitute objective evidence of the impact these Apps are having, which may in turn improve their adoption and consequent usefulness.

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