TY - JOUR T1 - MyCOVIDRisk app: development and utilisation of a COVID-19 risk assessment and mitigation application JF - BMJ Innovations JO - BMJ Innov SP - 363 LP - 367 DO - 10.1136/bmjinnov-2021-000672 VL - 7 IS - 2 AU - Elizabeth M Goldberg AU - Charlotte S Bingaman AU - Sudheesha Perera AU - Megan L Ranney Y1 - 2021/04/01 UR - http://innovations.bmj.com/content/7/2/363.abstract N2 - Summary boxWhat are the new findings?A simple web-based mobile application to estimate risk of COVID-19 transmission is feasible and acceptable among the US public.Transmission risk can be estimated for app users based on local prevalence of disease, type of activity and mitigation measures employed, without collecting personal health information.How might it impact on healthcare in the future?Health apps that are free, publicly available, and incorporate evidence-based research could reduce COVID-19 fatigue and safety measure compliance by allowing individuals to make their own risk assessments and enjoy low-risk activities safely.Social media may be a useful tool to obtain early user feedback and promote health tools during a public health emergency.The transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 are complex. They depend on factors that enhance or protect against fomite, large droplet and aerosol transmission, as well as local prevalence of disease. The public face challenges in understanding and making educated decisions about daily activities, prompting perspective pieces such as ‘We’ve been left to calculate our virus risk on our own. We’re terrible at it.’1 Mobile apps could play an important role in helping individuals understand infection risk from everyday activities. Current COVID-19 risk apps range from predictive models estimating the risk of critical illness, to symptom checkers and workplace guides.Here we present the development and implementation of MyCOVIDRisk app, intended to both inform Americans of the risk incurred when engaging in different activities and to guide on risk-reduction measures. Our objective was to create a tool that was freely accessible to the public, incorporated up-to-date information on local disease prevalence2 and helped people easily understand how to reduce risk without divulging personal information. The hypothesis was that if individuals could continue to engage in enjoyable low-risk activities, we could reduce community transmission while also minimising anxiety, isolation and so-called pandemic fatigue.Literature reviewThe idea of MyCOVIDRisk was conceived in July 2020 … ER -