Using a smartphone application to capture daily work activities: a longitudinal pilot study in a farming population.
Objectives Smartphones are increasingly used to collect real-time information on time-varying exposures. We developed and deployed an application (app) to evaluate the feasibility of using smartphones to collect real-time information on intermittent agricultural activities and to characterize agricu...
| Publicado en: | Annals of Work Exposures & Health Vol. 67; no. 7; pp. 895 - 907 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Oxford University Press / USA
Aug2023
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=170020768&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 170020768 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 23987308 KJ1E jtl: Annals of Work Exposures & Health issn: 23987308 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Aug2023 vid: 67 iid: 7 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 170020768 170020768 170020768 10.1093/annweh/wxad034 170020768 ppf: 895 ppct: 12 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Using a smartphone application to capture daily work activities: a longitudinal pilot study in a farming population. aug: au: Josse, Pabitra R Locke, Sarah J Bowles, Heather R Wolff-Hughes, Dana L Sauve, Jean-François Andreotti, Gabriella Moon, Jon Hofmann, Jonathan N Freeman, Laura E Beane Friesen, Melissa C affil: Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute , Bethesda, MD , United States sug: subj: Mobile Applications Smartphone Utilization Farmworkers Occupational Exposure Motion Capture Work Environment Human Prospective Studies Pilot Studies Male Middle Age Descriptive Statistics Horticulture Funding Source Middle Aged: 45-64 years Male ab: Objectives Smartphones are increasingly used to collect real-time information on time-varying exposures. We developed and deployed an application (app) to evaluate the feasibility of using smartphones to collect real-time information on intermittent agricultural activities and to characterize agricultural task variability in a longitudinal study of farmers. Methods We recruited 19 male farmers, aged 50–60 years, to report their farming activities on 24 randomly selected days over 6 months using the Life in a Day app. Eligibility criteria include personal use of an iOS or Android smartphone and >4 h of farming activities at least two days per week. We developed a study-specific database of 350 farming tasks that were provided in the app; 152 were linked to questions that were asked when the activity ended. We report eligibility, study compliance, number of activities, duration of activities by day and task, and responses to the follow-up questions. Results Of the 143 farmers we reached out to for this study, 16 were not reached by phone or refused to answer eligibility questions, 69 were ineligible (limited smartphone use and/or farming time), 58 met study criteria, and 19 agreed to participate. Refusals were mostly related to uneasiness with the app and/or time commitment (32 of 39). Participation declined gradually over time, with 11 farmers reporting activities through the 24-week study period. We obtained data on 279 days (median 554 min/day; median 18 days per farmer) and 1,321 activities (median 61 min/activity; median 3 activities per day per farmer). The activities were predominantly related to animals (36%), transportation (12%), and equipment (10%). Planting crops and yard work had the longest median durations; short-duration tasks included fueling trucks, collecting/storing eggs, and tree work. Time period-specific variability was observed; for example, crop-related activities were reported for an average of 204 min/day during planting but only 28 min/day during pre-planting and 110 min/day during the growing period. We obtained additional information for 485 (37%) activities; the most frequently asked questions were related to "feed animals" (231 activities) and "operate fuel-powered vehicle (transportation)" (120 activities). Conclusions Our study demonstrated feasibility and good compliance in collecting longitudinal activity data over 6 months using smartphones in a relatively homogeneous population of farmers. We captured most of the farming day and observed substantial heterogeneity in activities, highlighting the need for individual activity data when characterizing exposure in farmers. We also identified several areas for improvement. In addition, future evaluations should include more diverse populations. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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