نبذة مختصرة : Background The recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become an international pandemic. So far, little is known about the role of an internet approach in COVID-19 participatory surveillance. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate whether an online survey can provide population-level information for observing prevalence trends during the early phase of an outbreak and identifying potential risk factors of COVID-19 infection. Methods A 10-item online questionnaire was developed according to medical guidelines and relevant publications. It was distributed between January 24 and February 17, 2020. The characteristics of respondents and temporal changes of various questionnaire-derived indicators were analyzed. Results A total of 18,161 questionnaires were returned, including 6.45% (n=1171) from Wuhan City. Geographical distributions of the respondents were consistent with the population per province (R2=0.61, P Conclusions This study shows the usefulness of an online questionnaire for the surveillance of outbreaks like COVID-19 by providing information about trends of the disease and aiding the identification of potential risk factors.
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