A Body Tracking-Based Low-Cost Solution for Monitoring Workers' Hygiene Best Practices during Pandemics.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Biomedical Engineering
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical need for understanding and mitigating infectious disease transmission routes.
• Hand-face contact is a significant, often unconscious, pathway for pathogen spread, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (Sars-CoV-2).
• Effective hygiene practices and societal preparedness are essential to combat emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a prototype system for real-time monitoring of hand-face contact behaviors.
• To assess the system's effectiveness in enhancing user awareness and providing data for hygiene solutions.
• To understand the role of hand-face contact as a contagion pathway and identify high-risk demographics.

Main Methods:

• Development of a prototype system utilizing low-cost depth sensors for real-time behavioral monitoring.
• Recording and analysis of people's hand-face contact gestures.
• Preliminary validation study to measure system accuracy and reliability (Cohen's Kappa).

Main Results:

• The system achieved an overall accuracy of 91% in monitoring hand-face contact.
• A Cohen's Kappa of 0.876 confirmed the statistical significance of the accuracy, rejecting accidental results.
• Low-cost body tracking technology demonstrates efficacy in monitoring hygiene compliance.

Conclusions:

• The developed system effectively supports real-time monitoring and training for hygiene best practices.
• Data collection and analysis can elucidate the significance of the hand-face contact transmission route.
• Identifying at-risk populations for specific behaviors can inform targeted public health interventions.