TY - JOUR
T1 - MSpray
T2 - A mobile phone technology to improve malaria control efforts and monitor human exposure to malaria control pesticides in Limpopo, South Africa
AU - Eskenazi, Brenda
AU - Quirós-Alcalá, Lesliam
AU - Lipsitt, Jonah M.
AU - Wu, Lemuel D.
AU - Kruger, Philip
AU - Ntimbane, Tzundzukani
AU - Nawn, John Burns
AU - Bornman, M. S.Riana
AU - Seto, Edmund
N1 - Funding Information:
This publication was supported by grant numbers: R01 ES020360 and R01 ES020360-S1 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). This work is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders. We would also like to thank Zinto Corporation, South Africa for donating Smartphones. We gratefully acknowledge the Malaria Control staff in Vhembe and the team leaders, foremen, and spray workers who piloted mSpray. We would also like to acknowledge Jonathan Chevrier PhD, Taneshka Kruger PhD, Katherine Kogut, MPH, MSc and Katherine España who have provided technical and editorial assistance. We also acknowledge the continued work of the computer science students who are currently revising mSpray: Lemuel Daniel Wu (coauthor), Brent Batas, Jeffery Butler and Annie (Eun Sun) Shin.
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - Recent estimates indicate that malaria has led to over half a million deaths worldwide, mostly to African children. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticides is one of the primary vector control interventions. However, current reporting systems do not obtain precise location of IRS events in relation to malaria cases, which poses challenges for effective and efficient malaria control. This information is also critical to avoid unnecessary human exposure to IRS insecticides. We developed and piloted a mobile-based application (mSpray) to collect comprehensive information on IRS spray events. We assessed the utility, acceptability and feasibility of using mSpray to gather improved homestead- and chemical-level IRS coverage data. We installed mSpray on 10 cell phones with data bundles, and pilot tested it with 13 users in Limpopo, South Africa. Users completed basic information (number of rooms/shelters sprayed; chemical used, etc.) on spray events. Upon submission, this information as well as geographic positioning system coordinates and time/date stamp were uploaded to a Google Drive Spreadsheet to be viewed in real time. We administered questionnaires, conducted focus groups, and interviewed key informants to evaluate the utility of the app. The low-cost, cell phone-based "mSpray" app was learned quickly by users, well accepted and preferred to the current paper-based method. We recorded 2865 entries (99.1% had a GPS accuracy of 20. m or less) and identified areas of improvement including increased battery life. We also identified a number of logistic and user problems (e.g., cost of cell phones and cellular bundles, battery life, obtaining accurate GPS measures, user errors, etc.) that would need to be overcome before full deployment. Use of cell phone technology could increase the efficiency of IRS malaria control efforts by mapping spray events in relation to malaria cases, resulting in more judicious use of chemicals that are potentially harmful to humans and the environment.
AB - Recent estimates indicate that malaria has led to over half a million deaths worldwide, mostly to African children. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticides is one of the primary vector control interventions. However, current reporting systems do not obtain precise location of IRS events in relation to malaria cases, which poses challenges for effective and efficient malaria control. This information is also critical to avoid unnecessary human exposure to IRS insecticides. We developed and piloted a mobile-based application (mSpray) to collect comprehensive information on IRS spray events. We assessed the utility, acceptability and feasibility of using mSpray to gather improved homestead- and chemical-level IRS coverage data. We installed mSpray on 10 cell phones with data bundles, and pilot tested it with 13 users in Limpopo, South Africa. Users completed basic information (number of rooms/shelters sprayed; chemical used, etc.) on spray events. Upon submission, this information as well as geographic positioning system coordinates and time/date stamp were uploaded to a Google Drive Spreadsheet to be viewed in real time. We administered questionnaires, conducted focus groups, and interviewed key informants to evaluate the utility of the app. The low-cost, cell phone-based "mSpray" app was learned quickly by users, well accepted and preferred to the current paper-based method. We recorded 2865 entries (99.1% had a GPS accuracy of 20. m or less) and identified areas of improvement including increased battery life. We also identified a number of logistic and user problems (e.g., cost of cell phones and cellular bundles, battery life, obtaining accurate GPS measures, user errors, etc.) that would need to be overcome before full deployment. Use of cell phone technology could increase the efficiency of IRS malaria control efforts by mapping spray events in relation to malaria cases, resulting in more judicious use of chemicals that are potentially harmful to humans and the environment.
KW - Cell phones
KW - IRS (indoor residual spraying)
KW - MHealth
KW - Malaria control
KW - Mobile technology
KW - Pesticides
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84899146357&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84899146357&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2014.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2014.03.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 24769412
AN - SCOPUS:84899146357
SN - 0160-4120
VL - 68
SP - 219
EP - 226
JO - Environment international
JF - Environment international
ER -