Socioeconomic disadvantage and engagement with digital contact tracing for COVID-19 in Western Sydney: A secondary analysis of surveillance data

Abstract

Objective

COVID-19 outcomes were highly inequitably distributed in Australia and worldwide. The digitalisation of public health interventions offers resource-efficiency and increased capacity for pandemic responses, but risks excluding the elderly and disadvantaged, reinforcing existing inequalities. Despite this, there has been little evaluation of the determinants of uptake of digital contact tracing.

This paper describes the use of digital contact tracing for COVID-19 in a population in metropolitan Sydney and the determinants of engagement in this population.

Methods

Routinely collected surveillance data for residents of Western Sydney Local Health District, returning a positive SARS-CoV-2 result between 1^st August 2021 and 12^th February 2022, were extracted including responses to a digital contact tracing questionnaire. Individual records were linked to area-level socioeconomic indices of disadvantage.

Descriptive analyses explored characteristics of non-responders and geospatial variation. Logistic regression was undertaken to evaluate the effect of age, sex and socioeconomic disadvantage on the odds of response.

Results

Of the 133 055 individuals included, 130 645 (98%) were issued a digital contact tracing questionnaire, and 106 432 (81%) responded. Odds of responding were lower in males (odds ratio: 0.79), individuals aged 80+ (odds ratio: 0.17) and the most disadvantaged communities (odds ratio: 0.32).

Conclusions

Digital data collection for contact tracing was a scalable and efficient tool in the context of the Western Sydney Local Health District COVID-19 response. However, older people and individuals in disadvantaged communities were less likely to engage.

Implications for Public Health

Responses to future pandemics should leverage the resource-efficiency of digital interventions but should avoid compounding existing health inequalities.