Corona Health—A Study- and Sensor-Based Mobile App Platform Exploring Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Felix Beierle, Johannes Schobel, Carsten Vogel, Johannes Allgaier, Lena Mulansky, Fabian Haug, Julian Haug, Winfried Schlee, Marc Holfelder, Michael Stach, Marc Schickler, Harald Baumeister, Caroline Cohrdes, Jürgen Deckert, Lorenz Deserno, Johanna-Sophie Edler, Felizitas A. Eichner, Helmut Greger, Grit Hein, Peter Heuschmann, Dennis John, Hans A. Kestler, Dagmar Krefting, Berthold Langguth, Patrick Meybohm, Thomas Probst, Manfred Reichert, Marcel Romanos, Stefan Störk, Yannik Terhorst, Martin Weiß and Rüdiger Pryss
Additional contact information
Felix Beierle: Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Johannes Schobel: DigiHealth Institute, Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences, 89231 Neu-Ulm, Germany
Carsten Vogel: Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Johannes Allgaier: Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Lena Mulansky: Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Fabian Haug: Institute of Databases and Information Systems, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Julian Haug: Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Winfried Schlee: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
Marc Holfelder: LA2 GmbH, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Michael Stach: Institute of Databases and Information Systems, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Marc Schickler: Institute of Databases and Information Systems, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Harald Baumeister: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Caroline Cohrdes: Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, 12101 Berlin, Germany
Jürgen Deckert: Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Center of Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Lorenz Deserno: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Johanna-Sophie Edler: Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, 12101 Berlin, Germany
Felizitas A. Eichner: Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Helmut Greger: Service Center Medical Informatics, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Grit Hein: Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Center of Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Peter Heuschmann: Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Dennis John: Lutheran University of Applied Sciences Nürnberg, 90429 Nürnberg, Germany
Hans A. Kestler: Institute of Medical Systems Biology, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Dagmar Krefting: Department of Medical Informatics, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Berthold Langguth: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
Patrick Meybohm: Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care, Emergency and Pain Medicine, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Thomas Probst: Department for Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health, Danube University Krems, 3500 Krems, Austria
Manfred Reichert: Institute of Databases and Information Systems, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Marcel Romanos: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Stefan Störk: Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University and University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Yannik Terhorst: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Martin Weiß: Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Center of Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
Rüdiger Pryss: Institute of Clinical Epidemiology and Biometry, University of Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: Physical and mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic is typically assessed via surveys, which might make it difficult to conduct longitudinal studies and might lead to data suffering from recall bias. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) driven smartphone apps can help alleviate such issues, allowing for in situ recordings. Implementing such an app is not trivial, necessitates strict regulatory and legal requirements, and requires short development cycles to appropriately react to abrupt changes in the pandemic. Based on an existing app framework, we developed Corona Health, an app that serves as a platform for deploying questionnaire-based studies in combination with recordings of mobile sensors. In this paper, we present the technical details of Corona Health and provide first insights into the collected data. Through collaborative efforts from experts from public health, medicine, psychology, and computer science, we released Corona Health publicly on Google Play and the Apple App Store (in July 2020) in eight languages and attracted 7290 installations so far. Currently, five studies related to physical and mental well-being are deployed and 17,241 questionnaires have been filled out. Corona Health proves to be a viable tool for conducting research related to the COVID-19 pandemic and can serve as a blueprint for future EMA-based studies. The data we collected will substantially improve our knowledge on mental and physical health states, traits and trajectories as well as its risk and protective factors over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and its diverse prevention measures.

Keywords: mobile health; ecological momentary assessment; digital phenotyping; longitudinal studies; mobile crowdsensing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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