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Influence of Contact Definitions in Assessment of the Relative Importance of Social Settings in Disease Transmission Risk

Author

Listed:
  • Kirsty J Bolton
  • James M McCaw
  • Kristian Forbes
  • Paula Nathan
  • Garry Robins
  • Philippa Pattison
  • Terry Nolan
  • Jodie McVernon

Abstract

Background: Realistic models of disease transmission incorporating complex population heterogeneities require input from quantitative population mixing studies. We use contact diaries to assess the relative importance of social settings in respiratory pathogen spread using three measures of person contact hours (PCH) as proxies for transmission risk with an aim to inform bipartite network models of respiratory pathogen transmission. Methods and Findings: Our survey examines the contact behaviour for a convenience sample of 65 adults, with each encounter classified as occurring in a work, retail, home, social, travel or “other” setting. The diary design allows for extraction of PCH-interaction (cumulative time in face-face conversational or touch interaction with contacts) – analogous to the contact measure used in several existing surveys – as well as PCH-setting (product of time spent in setting and number of people present) and PCH-reach (product of time spent in setting and number of people in close proximity). Heterogeneities in day-dependent distribution of risk across settings are analysed using partitioning and cluster analyses and compared between days and contact measures. Although home is typically the highest-risk setting when PCH measures isolate two-way interactions, its relative importance compared to social and work settings may reduce when adopting a more inclusive contact measure that considers the number and duration of potential exposure events. Conclusions: Heterogeneities in location-dependent contact behaviour as measured by contact diary studies depend on the adopted contact definition. We find that contact measures isolating face-face conversational or touch interactions suggest that contact in the home dominates, whereas more inclusive contact measures indicate that home and work settings may be of higher importance. In the absence of definitive knowledge of the contact required to facilitate transmission of various respiratory pathogens, it is important for surveys to consider alternative contact measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirsty J Bolton & James M McCaw & Kristian Forbes & Paula Nathan & Garry Robins & Philippa Pattison & Terry Nolan & Jodie McVernon, 2012. "Influence of Contact Definitions in Assessment of the Relative Importance of Social Settings in Disease Transmission Risk," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(2), pages 1-8, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0030893
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030893
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zhiwen Yu & Jiming Liu & Xianjun Zhu, 2015. "Inferring a District-Based Hierarchical Structure of Social Contacts from Census Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-22, February.
    2. Mart L Stein & Jim E van Steenbergen & Charnchudhi Chanyasanha & Mathuros Tipayamongkholgul & Vincent Buskens & Peter G M van der Heijden & Wasamon Sabaiwan & Linus Bengtsson & Xin Lu & Anna E Thorson, 2014. "Online Respondent-Driven Sampling for Studying Contact Patterns Relevant for the Spread of Close-Contact Pathogens: A Pilot Study in Thailand," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, January.

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