Social mobility and gonorrhoea in Germany during 2020

Abstract

ObjectivesThe incidence of STIs is likely to be related to levels of social activity and mobility. Novel datasets detailing levels of social activity were made widely available during the COVID-19 pandemic. These allow the relationship between activity and STI incidence to be examined.MethodsThe correlation between social activities and the reported number of gonorrhoea cases between March and December 2020 in Germany was studied. Regression through Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) time series modelling identified those activities associated with case numbers.ResultsARIMA regression identified a significant association with ‘transit’ activity within the Apple data and ‘parks’ within Google.ConclusionsThis study illustrates the potential newly available measures of social activity provided for STI research. Reductions in STI incidence are likely to have occurred due to COVID-19 social restrictions. Although other studies report reductions in infectious diseases during this period, few examine the potential social factors mediating this. The results illustrate the continual need for sexual health services throughout the pandemic.

The Apple Mobility Trends Data in Human Mobility Patterns during Restrictions and Prediction of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Based on the four exclusion criteria, 16 reports were excluded. One report had no COVID-19 context [ 36 ], four did not point to the geographical region where it was conducted [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ], eight studies did not describe how the mobility data was used [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ], and three were not relevant [ 49 ]. Thirty-five reports were left in the review.…”