Parameters in COVID-19 Dashboards for Pandemic Public Health Monitoring and/or Management: A Scoping Review Protocol

Abstract Objective: The objective of this review is to investigate the rationale behind the selection of health indicators in COVID-19 Dashboards or toolkits in literature, and, if applicable, the evidence bases for it. Introduction: By the end of 2019, the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 had been detected. The virus moved rapidly across the globe, and a few months later, it was declared a global pandemic by the WHO. In response to the pandemic, novel and contemporary solutions were needed to monitor and manage the situation. In a digitalized world with increased access to open-source web-based software, it was natural that many interactive online dashboards were developed. Inclusion criteria: We created specific inclusion and exclusion criteria for pandemic dashboards or toolkits. We only include papers that look at the developing perspective of dashboards. Moreover, the included dashboards have to be in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We chose a scoping review method as it aims to outline different types of evidence on the area of interest, and to close the gaps for further research. Following the JBI methodology guidance, the search will be conducted as an iterative process. Search strategies are designed and conducted by an experienced information specialist. Data will be extracted from papers included in the scoping review by one reviewer using a data extraction excel sheet developed by the reviewers. Results: The extracted data will include specific details about the participants, concept, context, study methods, and key findings relevant to our review question, and will be presented in charted diagrams. We believe that our review will provide the fundamental base for the creation of a comprehensive conceptual model, which guides an ideal way of dashboard development. Introduction: In December 2019, a local outbreak of the now known as SARS-CoV-2 was detected in Wuhan (Hubei, China). Consequently, the virus spread across the whole world. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak associated with SARS-CoV-2 a global pandemic (Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020). This quickly unfolding situation required public health experts, epidemiologists, and decision-makers around the globe to react quickly to the arising challenges. In order to make decisions, stakeholders and public health decision-makers required the necessary data. In a digitalized world with increased access to open-source web-based software, it was natural that many interactive online dashboards were developed (Nuti, Noto, Vola, & Vainieri, 2018). Dashboards could be defined as interactive information delivery platforms, in which you can have a summarised visual overview of the most valuable information on one single screen. As a result, decision-makers would be able to measure, monitor, and manage the situation more efficiently (Ghazisaeidi et al., 2015). The John Hopkins dashboard, first made public on the 22nd of January 2020, is a prominent example of widely used COVID-19 dashboards (Dong, Du, & Gardner, 2020). Since then, many dashboards have been identified. A recent study aimed to explore the characteristics of public web-based COVID-19 dashboards has assessed 154 COVID-19 dashboards (Ivankovic et al., 2021). Using a qualitative research approach, focus group interviews were conducted with a sample of hospital managers and hospital staff to identify the faced challenges to develop Dutch hospital dashboards phases (Weggelaar-Jansen, Broekharst, & de Bruijne, 2018). The study found a common development process for quality and safety hospital dashboards with five unique phases. The settings and the purpose of the study dashboards vary from the COVID-19 pandemic dashboards that are widely used at the moment. Another review was carried out with the aim of identifying key practical issues that need to be addressed for developing performance dashboards in the healthcare sector (Ghazisaeidi et al., 2015). This review implies some of the main steps to develop dashboards for the purpose of performance management. Again, the healthcare settings differ from the public health settings, thus it is not ideal to generalize developing frameworks of healthcare dashboards to the public health pandemic-related dashboards. A recent article focused on the analytical and mathematical aspects of developing an online COVID-19 dashboard and the modeling process was described in equations and visualized in figures. Authors criticized the World Health Organisation (https://covid19.who.int/) and the John Hopkins (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html) online dashboards for lacking important information and interactive analysis (Florez & Singh, 2020). The paper described the development process but skipped the rationale behind the selection of the health parameters in their dashboard. Preliminary research for reviews, which describe in detail how the dashboard parameters were chosen, was done. On PubMed, a Canadian scoping review with the objectives of identifying the scope of the use of visual analytic methods and summarising methodological tools, techniques, and frameworks from peer-reviewed literature, was conducted (Chishtie et al., 2020). The review did not look at how the parameters themselves were chosen. Rather, it examined the analytical side of the visualized web tools. The analysis of charts is one step ahead of our review question. We investigate the selection process itself, and the rationale behind the choice of certain parameters, if reported. Searching on the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and JBI Evidence Synthesis did not yield reviews that specifically looked into the selection process of health indicators in COVID-19 dashboards. On the other hand, an observational descriptive assessment with Nominal Group Technique (NGT) was used by Ivanković et. al to describe the purpose of the covid-19 dashboards. The study used a pragmatic approach, in which various indicators would be listed and discussed. The study did not justify why each of the indicators was chosen in the relevant dashboards. Rather, the purpose of use of the dashboard and the intended audience were shown, which still overlooks other aspects of the selection process of dashboards indicators. (Ivankovic et al., 2021). Moreover, a Conceptual Model for Geo-Online exploratory data visualization was developed. It was developed specifically for the communication of data of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the study results overlapped with our objective of explaining why specific indicators were chosen, the study was not originally developed for that objective, and it still skipped valuable information about the selection process (Bernasconi & Grandi, 2021). It is clear that the available literature brought up the process of developing pandemic web tools from the content perspective. However, the existing evidence and guidelines are heterogenous to a great extent and need to be systematically reviewed. All of that being said, a new approach to evidence synthesis is required. A scoping review design was chosen. COVID-19 dashboards are currently widely accessible. Their proper use and to what extent they are understood could influence how the entire pandemic will be managed. In this study, we will take the first step towards a comprehensive conceptual model of how to properly create a pandemic dashboard. In our scoping review, we set out to explore the content perspective of pandemic dashboards. We are especially interested in how the included parameters were selected, which parameters were selected and if there are any specific methodology underlying the choice of parameters.

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