A Survey of the Use of Modeling, Simulation, Visualization, and Mapping in Public Health Emergency Operations Centers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Ali Asgary, Mahbod Aarabi, Shelly Dixit, He Wen, Mariah Ahmed, Jianhong Wu

Open access · goldAbstract read

In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ali AsgaryDisaster & Emergency Management, School of Administrative Studies & York Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, and Governance Institute & ADERSIM, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6253-1021

Mahbod AarabiDisaster & Emergency Management, School of Administrative Studies & York Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, and Governance Institute & ADERSIM, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.

Shelly DixitDisaster & Emergency Management, School of Administrative Studies & York Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, and Governance Institute & ADERSIM, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.

He WenFaculty of Engineering-Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-4181-4724

Mariah AhmedDisaster & Emergency Management, School of Administrative Studies & York Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, and Governance Institute & ADERSIM, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.

Jianhong WuYork Emergency Mitigation, Engagement, Response, and Governance Institute & Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.

York University · CAUniversity of Alberta · CA

Funding

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada // Public Health Agency of Canada, Emerging Infectious Disease Modelling (EIDM), Mathematics for Public Health 560523-2020Ontario Research Fund, Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation Initiative (ADERSIM) 33270

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed life and work patterns and reshaped the healthcare industry and public health strategies. It posed considerable challenges to public health emergency operations centers (PHEOCs). In this period, digital technologies such as modeling, simulation, visualization, and mapping (MSVM) emerged as vital tools in these centers. Despite their perceived importance, the potential and adaptation of digital tools in PHEOCs remain underexplored. This study investigated the application of MSVM in the PHEOCs during the pandemic in Canada using a questionnaire survey. The results show that digital tools, particularly visualization and mapping, are frequently used in PHEOCs. However, critical gaps, including data management issues, technical and capacity issues, and limitations in the policy-making sphere, still hinder the effective use of these tools. Key areas identified in this study for future investigation include collaboration, interoperability, and various supports for information sharing and capacity building.

Indexed as

COVID-19CanadaComputer SimulationHumansPandemicsPublic HealthCOVID-19digitalizationemergency managementemergency operations centerEOCmappingmodelingpandemic managementPHEOCsimulationsurveyvisualization

Identifiers

PMID38541295

DOI10.3390/ijerph21030295

PMCPMC10970588

OpenAlexW4392375686

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.