Facilitators and barriers to engagement with contact tracing during infectious disease outbreaks: a rapid review of the evidence
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Until a vaccine is developed, a test, trace and isolate strategy is the most effective method of controlling the COVID-19 outbreak. Contact tracing and case isolation are common methods for controlling infectious disease outbreaks. However, the effectiveness of any contact tracing system rests on public engagement. Numerous factors may influence an individual's willingness to engage with a contact tracing system. Understanding these factors has become urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To identify facilitators and barriers to uptake of, and engagement with, contact tracing during infectious disease outbreaks. METHOD: A rapid systematic review was conducted to identify papers based on primary research, written in English, and that assessed facilitators, barriers, and other factors associated with the uptake of, and engagement with, a contact tracing system. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Four themes were identified as facilitators to the uptake of, and engagement with, contact tracing: collective responsibility; personal benefit; co-production of contact tracing systems; and the perception of the system as efficient, rigorous and reliable. Five themes were identified as barriers to the uptake of, and engagement with, contact tracing: privacy concerns; mistrust and/or apprehension; unmet need for more information and support; fear of stigmatization; and mode-specific challenges. CONCLUSIONS: By focusing on the factors that have been identified, contact tracing services are more likely to get people to engage with them, identify more potentially ill contacts, and reduce transmission.
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- Authors
- Megnin-Viggars, O., Carter, P., Melendez-Torres, G. J., Weston, D., & Rubin, G. J.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Public Health England (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2020-10-29
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- e0241473
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7595276
- OpenAlex
- W3097958417
- Cited by
- 95
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 26
- FWCI
- 16.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Go-Science
- National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Emergency Preparedness and Response
- National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Behaviour Change and Evaluation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Data-Driven Disease Surveillance
- Keywords
- contact tracing, COVID-19 pandemic, infectious disease outbreaks, citizen participation, willingness to engage, barriers and facilitators, collective responsibility, privacy concerns, distrust, stigmatization, co-production, case isolation
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Disease Outbreaks, Humans, Patient Participation, Pneumonia, Viral, Social Responsibility, Stereotyping, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus Infections, Privacy, Trust, Pandemics
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