The Role of Digital Technology in Curbing COVID-19

Noha S. Alghamdi and Saeed M. Alghamdi
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Noha S. Alghamdi: Business School, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BX, UK
Saeed M. Alghamdi: National Heart and Lung Institution, Imperial College London, London SW3 6LY, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: Introduction: Using digital technology to provide support, medical consultations, healthcare services, and to track the spread of the coronavirus has been identified as an important solution to curb the transmission of the virus. This research paper aims to (1) summarize the digital technologies used during the COVID-19 pandemic to mitigate the transmission of the COVID-19; (2) establish the extent to which digital technology applications have facilitated mitigation of the spread of COVID-19; and (3) explore the facilitators and barriers that impact the usability of digital technologies throughout the pandemic. Methods: A rapid electronic search following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was conducted of available records up to June 2022 on the medical databases PubMed, Ovid, Embase, CINHAIL, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Results: An increasing number and variety of digital health applications have been available throughout the pandemic, such as telehealth, smartphone mobile health apps, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Each technology has played a particular role in curbing COVID-19 transmission. Different users have gained benefits from using digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic and different determinants have contributed to accelerating the wheel of digital technology implementation during the pandemic. Conclusion: Digital health during the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved very rapidly, with different applications and roles aimed at curbing the pandemic.

Keywords: digital technology; digital health; COVID-19; health innovation; health informatics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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