Evaluation of Web-Based Surveillance of Foodborne Illness

BACKGROUND:   The objective of this analysis is to compare the quality of web complaints to those previously only received via telephone.   We aim to characterize web based and telephone based complaints by determining the demographics of complainants, the characteristics of the complaints, and evaluate how this new reporting mechanism is impacting the quality of data received. 

METHODS:   We compared web and telephone foodborne illness reports in Los Angeles County (LAC) for one year.  The demographics of persons making web complaints and telephone complaints were compared, where race/ethnicity and gender were inferred by name of complainant.  In addition, web and telephone complaints were compared using five criteria: timeliness, completeness, severity, cooperation, and public health significance. 

RESULTS: Web complaints comprised 40.8% of total complaints (n=1588) received in LAC in 2009, yet total reporting was comparable to a year prior to web reporting (2007, n=1700).  Latinos/Hispanics preferred reporting by telephone rather than by web (24.2% vs. 16.7%, p<0.01), whereas Asians preferred web reporting over telephone reporting (9.8% vs. 6.7%, p=0.03).  No difference in reporting by gender was observed (female: 46.4% vs. 42.1%, p=0.09).  Web complaints were more timely than telephone complaints (<3 days from illness: 72.4% vs. 61.3%, p<0.01), but were less complete (82.2% vs. 89.3%, p<0.01), reported less severe illness (sought medical care: 17.3% vs. 22.6%, p=0.01) and were less likely to lead to foodborne outbreak investigations (0.5% vs. 1.7%, p=0.03). 

CONCLUSIONS: Web reporting enhances public health surveillance for suspect foodborne illnesses by improving the timeliness of such reports