Study Design Feature | Advantages | Disadvantages |
---|---|---|
Integrated study functions streamlined into a mobile application | • Reduced resources needed for recruitment • Efficiency in expanding geographic reach • Maintained protocol standardization between participants • Single interface which simplified study procedures and aided participant engagement (e.g. participant took the study questionnaire while they waited for the test results) | • Resources needed to develop app • No human interaction with risks to study fidelity: ➜ Unable to verify accuracy of self-reported responses ➜ Difficult to verify if participants conducted the swabbing correctly without marker of human DNA |
Recruitment using online marketing through social media | • Expanded geographic reach • Ability to target specific groups and regions • Improves generalizability (people in the community versus recruitment in a clinic seeking care) • Facilitates tailoring of recruitment materials compared to paper based recruitment materials | • Can be expensive • Financial incentives noted in online recruitment can attract participants only interested in financial reward • Avoid recruitment materials that advertise monetary incentive |
Determining eligibility through Self-reported symptoms | • Prevents exposure of study staff to ILI | • Unable to verify eligibility information provided by the participant • We accepted participants with ILI symptoms longer than 72 h |
Shipping of test kit to and from study lab | • Prevents exposure of ILI to study staff and potentially people at a health care clinic • Central distribution of study kits allowed for quality control | • Despite priority and overnight shipping, shipping and time to participants taking the test took too long to capture many participants early in their illness |
Return of reference sample | • Facilitated reference sampling, without need for study staff or clinic visits • Low error rate and participants reported that it was easy to collect | • Study design did not stress rapid return of the sample thus lead to longer times to return to study lab and spoiled UTM fluid • Time of the year/temperature may impact UTM fluid stability |