Smart mobile phone applied for collection of information in field epidemiology investigation

Objective To research a technique for collection of epidemiological and geographical information based on smart mobile phone and put it into practice in field epidemiology investigation.Methods Social economic data and infectious disease information were collected for establishment of geo-spatial database and creation of public health thematic map based on Shanghai surveying map.Development softwares were used including ARCSDE 9.3.1, ARCGIS Engine Developer Kit 9.3.1, ARCGIS Sever 9.3.1 and Visual C++ for establishment of GIS platform based on smart mobile phone information collection.Results Through smart mobile phone information system we collected patients' epidemiological, multimedia and spatial information, real-time received task and verified information from GIS platform and used map tools, GPS, information query function and so on. Since December 2007 when we applied the system, the average time for investigation and analyses has greatly decreased from 24 and 48 hours to less than 2 hours in experimental areas.Conclusion The establishment and application of smart mobile phone information system provides a new technique for field epidemiological investigation.