title: Methodology of developing a smartphone application for crisis research and its clinical application.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent advancement in Internet based technologies have resulted in the growth of a sub-specialized field, termed as "Infodemiology" and "Infoveillance". Infoveillence refers to the collation of infodemiology measures for the purpose of surveillance and trending. Previous research has only demonstrated the research potential of Web 2.0 medium in collation of data in crisis situation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objectives for the current study are to demonstrate the methodology of implementation of a smartphone-based application for dissemination and collation of information during a crisis situation.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Haze Smartphone application was developed using an online application builder and using HTML5 as the core programming language. A five-phase developmental method including a) formulation of user requirements, b) system design, c) system development, d) system evaluation and finally e) system application and implementation were adopted. The smartphone application was deployed during a one-week period via a self-sponsored Facebook post and via direct dissemination of the web-links by emails.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 298 respondents took part in the survey within the application. Most of them were between the ages of 20- to 29-years old and had a university education. More individuals preferred the option of accessing and providing feedback to a survey on physical and psychological wellbeing via direct access to a Web-based questionnaire. In addition, the participants reported a mean number of 4.03 physical symptoms (SD 2.6). The total Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) score was 18.47 (SD 11.69), which indicated that the study population did experience psychological stress but not posttraumatic stress disorder. The perceived dangerous Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) level and the number of physical symptoms were associated with higher IES-R Score (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates how a smartphone application could potentially be used to acquire research data in a crisis situation. However, it is crucial for future research to further evaluate its effectiveness in a crisis situation.
authors.affiliation: Southeast Asian Haze Research Consortium, Department of Medical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Melvyn W B
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Southeast Asian Haze Research Consortium, Department of Medical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Cyrus S H
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Southeast Asian Haze Research Consortium, Department of Medical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Pan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Southeast Asian Haze Research Consortium, Department of Medical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Yanxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Southeast Asian Haze Research Consortium, Department of Medical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Roger C M
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000639:trends*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D004190:Disasters; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D020407:Internet / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063731:Mobile Applications / Q000639:trends*; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012846:Singapore; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Smartphone application; crisis; haze; information technology; methodologies