Health Information Tools Research Articles

Health literacy among older adults in Switzerland: cross-sectional evidence from a nationally representative population-based observational study.

Despite being widely regarded as a major cause of health inequalities, little is known regarding health literacy and its association with certain personal characteristics among older adults in Switzerland. To fill this gap, this study assesses health literacy and its associations with individuals' social, regional, and health characteristics in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 58 years and older in Switzerland. We use data of 1,625 respondents from a paper-and-pencil self-completion questionnaire (cooperation rate: 94.3%) that was administered as part of wave 8 (2019/2020) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in Switzerland. Health literacy is measured using the short version of the European Health Literacy Survey questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16). The scale includes 16 items whose dichotomised responses allow the construction of different indices and sub-indices aimed at measuring various aspects of health literacy. We use multivariable regressions to explore how respondents' sociodemographic characteristics are independently associated with health literacy. Overall, 6.8% of the respondents had inadequate health literacy, 24.6% problematic health literacy, and 68.6% sufficient health literacy. There were significant associations between health literacy and individuals' gender, education, economic situation, and self-rated health. Women had higher levels of health literacy than men (p <0.001). Moreover, a higher education level (p <0.001), fewer financial difficulties (p<0.01), and higher self-rated health (p <0.001) were positively correlated with adequate/higher levels of health literacy. One-third of older citizens have difficulties managing health-related issues in Switzerland. Individuals with low education, financial difficulties, and bad self-rated health are particularly at risk of being disadvantaged due to their inadequate health literacy level. These findings call for targeted interventions, such as using simplified health or eHealth information tools, improved patient-provider communication and shared decision-making, promoting lifelong learnings activities and health literacy screening for older patients to increase low health literacy and mitigate its consequences, thereby alleviating remaining social health inequalities in the Swiss population.

Evaluating Voice Assistants' Responses to COVID-19 Vaccination in Portuguese: Quality Assessment.

BackgroundVoice assistants (VAs) are devices that respond to human voices and can be commanded to do a variety of tasks. Nowadays, VAs are being used to obtain health information, which has become a critical point of analysis for researchers in terms of question understanding and quality of response. Particularly, the COVID-19 pandemic has and still is severely affecting people worldwide, which demands studies on how VAs can be used as a tool to provide useful information.ObjectiveThis work aimed to perform a quality analysis of different VAs’ responses regarding the actual and important subject of COVID-19 vaccines. We focused on this important subject since vaccines are now available and society has urged for the population to be rapidly immunized.MethodsThe proposed study was based on questions that were collected from the official World Health Organization website. These questions were submitted to the 5 dominant VAs (Alexa, Bixby, Cortana, Google Assistant, and Siri), and responses were evaluated according to a rubric based on the literature. We focused this study on the Portuguese language as an additional contribution, since previous works are mainly focused on the English language, and we believe that VAs cannot be optimized to foreign languages.ResultsResults showed that Google Assistant has a better overall performance, and only this VA and Samsung Bixby achieved high scores on question understanding in the Portuguese language. Regarding the obtained answers, the study also showed the best Google Assistant overall performance.ConclusionsUnder the urgent context of COVID-19 vaccination, this work can help to understand how VAs must be improved to be more useful to the society and how careful people must be when considering VAs as a source of health information. VAs have been demonstrated to perform well regarding comprehension and user-friendliness. However, this work has found that they must be better integrated to their information sources to be useful as health information tools.

Evaluation of quality and reliability of videos about orthodontics on TikTok (DouYin)

Objectives: TikTok is the world’s most popular short video application, where orthodontics-related content is viewed billions of times. This study aimed to evaluate the quality and reliability of video content about orthodontics on TikTok. Material and Methods: TikTok mobile application was searched for videos with the hashtag “#orthodontics” on July 9, 2021. The content and quality of the first 150 videos were evaluated using the global quality score (GQS) and reliability score (modified DISCERN tool) which is an evaluation tool for health information on social media. Results: The mean of the two researchers’ GQS values and reliability score was 2.1 ± 1.1 and 1.2 ± 1.4, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the median values of GQS and reliability score according to categorical descriptive variables (P &gt; 0.050). A statistically significant weak positive correlation was found between like no. and reliability scores (r = 0.245; P = 0.037). Most of the videos were uploaded by orthodontists (72.6%). Conclusion: Both the quality and reliability of the content about orthodontics on TikTok were very low. Even the most of the accounts were professionals, they did not prefer to give scientific information due to the medium’s own dynamics and target population’s likes.

NLM's Revolution in Consumer Health Information to Improve Patient Outcomes.

Under the leadership of NLM Director Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D., the National Library of Medicine (NLM) continued to promote its services to the nation's health care professionals and scientists. With support of the U.S. Congress, it initiated new communications and outreach programs and services directed at the general public that revolutionized their access to information as well. Because effective health communication must be tailored for the audience and the situation, Lindberg supported the development of online health information tools designed to help consumers find free, comprehensive, timely, and trustworthy sources of health information that, ultimately, can improve patient outcomes. New and popular consumer-friendly websites were championed by Lindberg, including MedlinePlus, and ClincialTrials.gov, and he formed unique partnerships with national physician organizations to educate their patients about reliable sources of health information from the NLM. A new era of timely and trusted online health information for the general public began in 2006 under Lindberg's tenure culminating in the development, publication and distribution of NIH's first consumer magazine, NIH MedlinePlus, featuring the research and findings of the NIH. In his effort to improve patient outcomes, Dr. Lindberg revolutionized the Library's outreach capabilities and successfully expanded its mission to serve not only health professionals and scientists, but also consumers nationwide.

The Patient Navigator: Can a systematically developed online health information tool improve patient participation and outcomes related to the consultation in older patients newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer?

BackgroundOlder cancer patients may search for health information online to prepare for their consultations. However, seeking information online can have negative effects, for instance increased anxiety due to finding incorrect or unclear information. In addition, existing online cancer information is not necessarily adapted to the needs of older patients, even though cancer is a disease often found in older individuals.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to systematically develop, implement and evaluate an online health information tool for older cancer patients, the Patient Navigator, providing information that complements the consultation with healthcare providers.MethodFor the development and evaluation of the Patient Navigator, the four phases of the MRC framework were used. In the first and second phase the Patient Navigator was developed and pilot tested based on previous research and sub-studies. During the third phase the Patient Navigator was implemented in four Dutch hospitals. In the last phase, a pilot RCT was conducted to evaluate the Patient Navigator in terms of usage (observational tracking data), user experience (self-reported satisfaction, involvement, cognitive load, active control, perceived relevance of the tool), patient participation (observational data during consultation), and patient outcomes related to the consultation (questionnaire data regarding anxiety, satisfaction, and information recall). Recently diagnosed colorectal cancer patients (N = 45) were randomly assigned to the control condition (usual care) or the experimental condition (usual care + Patient Navigator).ResultsThe Patient Navigator was well used and evaluated positively. Patients who received the Patient Navigator contributed less during the consultation by using less words than patients in the control condition and experienced less anxiety two days after the consultation than patients in the control condition.ConclusionSince the Patient Navigator was evaluated positively and decreased anxiety after the consultation, this tool is potentially a valuable addition to the consultation for patients. Usage of the Patient Navigator resulted in patients using less words during consultations, without impairing patients’ satisfaction, possibly because information needs might be fulfilled by usage of the Patient Navigator. This could create the possibility to personalize communication during consultations and respond to other patient needs.

User experiences of a mobile phone-based health information and surveillance system (mHISS): A case of caregivers of children under-five in rural communities in Ghana

BackgroundThe rapid advancement of mobile technology has fueled the use of mobile devices for health interventions and for improving healthcare provision in underserved communities. Despite the potential of mHealth being used as a health information and surveillance tool, its scale-up has been challenging and, in most cases, unable to advance beyond the pilot stage of implementation. The purpose of this study was to explore user experiences of a mobile phone-based interactive voice response (IVR) system among caregivers of children under-five in rural communities in the Asante Akim North District of Ghana.MethodsThe study adopted an exploratory design. A convenience sampling technique was used to recruit 35 participants who had used an IVR system for at least six months for the study. About 11 in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted among participants using a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic content analysis was utilized for the analysis of data in this study.ResultThe system was found to be acceptable, and the attitude of caregivers towards the system was also positive. The study discovered that the mobile phone-based Health Information and Surveillance System (mHISS) was useful for improving access to healthcare, communicating with health professionals, served as a decision support system, and improved caregivers’ awareness about self-management of childhood illnesses. Poor network quality, unstable electricity power supply, and dropped/cut calls served as significant barriers to using the mHISS system.ConclusionThe mHISS system was generally acceptable and could help improve access to healthcare and identify children with severe health conditions during outbreaks of diseases.

College students’ perceptions of COVID-19 conversations on social media

Objective: This project assessed college students’ perceptions of social media conversations about COVID-19 in the United States. Participants: A total of 110 college students completed an online survey (N = 110) over two periods of time: April 2020 (n = 60) and September 2020 (n = 50). Method: Measurements included students’ perceptions of sentiment, risk, blame, outrage, and opinion/behavioral intention. Results: Survey results showed that college students’ attitudes and perceptions of these concepts on social media varied from April to September with negative sentiment, concern, uncertainty, and risk perception decreasing over time while blame and outrage increased over time. A sample of tweets was also examined for these constructs. Conclusions: This study provides important insight on college students’ perceptions during a public health emergency and how they use social media as a tool for health information.

Psychology of Aging Podcast: Public Education Tool for Sharing Evidence-Based Mental Health and Aging Information

Psychology of Aging Podcast, created and hosted by Dr. Regina Koepp, Clinical Geropsychologist, is the first podcast of its kind devoted solely to mental health and aging. The goal of the Psychology of Aging podcast is to facilitate access to information and education about mental health and brain health among older adults with the hope of de-stigmatizing mental health care for older adults, reducing ageism, highlighting diversity, and promoting access to mental health and dementia care. The format includes a combination of expert interviews and “solo-casts”. Topics range from depression and suicide prevention to Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias to the unique needs of LGTBQ older adults and caregivers to health disparities experienced by African American and Latin-X communities related to dementia and the COVID-19 pandemic. During this session, Dr. Koepp will discuss the role podcasts play in public education and share tips for starting an evidence-based podcast.

Open-source Software Sustainability Models: Initial White Paper From the Informatics Technology for Cancer Research Sustainability and Industry Partnership Working Group.

BackgroundThe National Cancer Institute Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) program provides a series of funding mechanisms to create an ecosystem of open-source software (OSS) that serves the needs of cancer research. As the ITCR ecosystem substantially grows, it faces the challenge of the long-term sustainability of the software being developed by ITCR grantees. To address this challenge, the ITCR sustainability and industry partnership working group (SIP-WG) was convened in 2019.ObjectiveThe charter of the SIP-WG is to investigate options to enhance the long-term sustainability of the OSS being developed by ITCR, in part by developing a collection of business model archetypes that can serve as sustainability plans for ITCR OSS development initiatives. The working group assembled models from the ITCR program, from other studies, and from the engagement of its extensive network of relationships with other organizations (eg, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Open Source Initiative, and Software Sustainability Institute) in support of this objective.MethodsThis paper reviews the existing sustainability models and describes 10 OSS use cases disseminated by the SIP-WG and others, including 3D Slicer, Bioconductor, Cytoscape, Globus, i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside) and tranSMART, Insight Toolkit, Linux, Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics tools, R, and REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture), in 10 sustainability aspects: governance, documentation, code quality, support, ecosystem collaboration, security, legal, finance, marketing, and dependency hygiene.ResultsInformation available to the public reveals that all 10 OSS have effective governance, comprehensive documentation, high code quality, reliable dependency hygiene, strong user and developer support, and active marketing. These OSS include a variety of licensing models (eg, general public license version 2, general public license version 3, Berkeley Software Distribution, and Apache 3) and financial models (eg, federal research funding, industry and membership support, and commercial support). However, detailed information on ecosystem collaboration and security is not publicly provided by most OSS.ConclusionsWe recommend 6 essential attributes for research software: alignment with unmet scientific needs, a dedicated development team, a vibrant user community, a feasible licensing model, a sustainable financial model, and effective product management. We also stress important actions to be considered in future ITCR activities that involve the discussion of the sustainability and licensing models for ITCR OSS, the establishment of a central library, the allocation of consulting resources to code quality control, ecosystem collaboration, security, and dependency hygiene.

Coping with interoperability in the development of a federated research infrastructure: achievements, challenges and recommendations from the JA-InfAct

BackgroundInformation for Action! is a Joint Action (JA-InfAct) on Health Information promoted by the EU Member States and funded by the European Commission within the Third EU Health Programme (2014–2020) to create and develop solid sustainable infrastructure on EU health information. The main objective of this the JA-InfAct is to build an EU health information system infrastructure and strengthen its core elements by a) establishing a sustainable research infrastructure to support population health and health system performance assessment, b) enhancing the European health information and knowledge bases, as well as health information research capacities to reduce health information inequalities, and c) supporting health information interoperability and innovative health information tools and data sources.MethodsFollowing a federated analysis approach, JA-InfAct developed an ad hoc federated infrastructure based on distributing a well-defined process-mining analysis methodology to be deployed at each participating partners’ systems to reproduce the analysis and pool the aggregated results from the analyses. To overcome the legal interoperability issues on international data sharing, data linkage and management, partners (EU regions) participating in the case studies worked coordinately to query their real-world healthcare data sources complying with a common data model, executed the process-mining analysis pipeline on their premises, and shared the results enabling international comparison and the identification of best practices on stroke care.ResultsThe ad hoc federated infrastructure was designed and built upon open source technologies, providing partners with the capacity to exploit their data and generate dashboards exploring the stroke care pathways. These dashboards can be shared among the participating partners or to a coordination hub without legal issues, enabling the comparative evaluation of the caregiving activities for acute stroke across regions.Nonetheless, the approach is not free of a number of challenges that have been solved, and new challenges that should be addressed in the eventual case of scaling up. For that eventual case, 12 recommendations considering the different layers of interoperability have been provided.ConclusionThe proposed approach, when successfully deployed as a federated analysis infrastructure, such as the one developed within the JA-InfAct, can concisely tackle all levels of the interoperability requirements from organisational to technical interoperability, supported by the close collaboration of the partners participating in the study. Any proposal for extension, should require further thinking on how to deal with new challenges on interoperability.

Intersection of Health Informatics Tools and Community Engagement in Health-Related Research to Reduce Health Inequities: Scoping Review.

BackgroundThe exponential growth of health information technology has the potential to facilitate community engagement in research. However, little is known about the use of health information technology in community-engaged research, such as which types of health information technology are used, which populations are engaged, and what are the research outcomes.ObjectiveThe objectives of this scoping review were to examine studies that used health information technology for community engagement and to assess (1) the types of populations, (2) community engagement strategies, (3) types of health information technology tools, and (4) outcomes of interest.MethodsWe searched PubMed and PCORI Literature Explorer using terms related to health information technology, health informatics, community engagement, and stakeholder involvement. This search process yielded 967 papers for screening. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, a total of 37 papers were analyzed for key themes and for approaches relevant to health information technology and community engagement research.ResultsThis analysis revealed that the communities engaged were generally underrepresented populations in health-related research, including racial or ethnic minority communities such as Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Latino ethnicity, and communities from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The studies focused on various age groups, ranging from preschoolers to older adults. The studies were also geographically spread across the United States and the world. Community engagement strategies included collaborative development of health information technology tools and partnerships to promote use (encompassing collaborative development, use of community advisory boards, and focus groups for eliciting information needs) and use of health information technology to engage communities in research (eg, through citizen science). The types of technology varied across studies, with mobile or tablet-based apps being the most common platform. Outcomes measured included eliciting user needs and requirements, assessing health information technology tools and prototypes with participants, measuring knowledge, and advocating for community change.ConclusionsThis study illustrates the current landscape at the intersection of health information technology tools and community-engaged research approaches. It highlights studies in which various community-engaged research approaches were used to design culturally centered health information technology tools, to promote health information technology uptake, or for engagement in health research and advocacy. Our findings can serve as a platform for generating future research upon which to expand the scope of health information technology tools and their use for meaningful stakeholder engagement. Studies that incorporate community context and needs have a greater chance of cocreating culturally centered health information technology tools and better knowledge to promote action and improve health outcomes.

Introduction and purpose

Abstract Dashboards are health information tools, made to illustrate specific indicator sets. They may demonstrate developments over time, geographic distribution, social inequalities or correlations between different factors, use a wide variety of infographics, and are generally updated very frequently. Dashboards can illustrate data for users without statistical knowledge, and are also useful data repositories for more proficient users. Dashboards are a modern approach to an old problem: data visualization. A well-known historical example is John Snow's mapping of cholera cases in London (1854). Current computer technology and the existence of the internet have made it possible to visualize health indicators in close to real time, and dashboards, like Dr Snow's map, are meant to, store, report and illustrate health indicators in order to affect policy. The indicators selected should be the ones amenable to change because their unsurpassed ability to monitor changing conditions and effects of interventions. Indicator selection is vital to set a baseline for such monitoring, and the indicators selected will of necessity be the ones where measures are taken in order to affect change. Policy will influence the choice of indicators, but indicators will also influence the choice of policies, because these two are intimately intertwined. Dashboards, be they national or regional, open to the public or just open to professional groups, are important implements to reach the policy-making audience and to signal what is defined as important. Dashboards can help to formulate policies that will improve public health for all groups.

Evaluating the quality and readability of online information on keratoconus treatment

ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate the quality and readability of online resources on keratoconus treatment. MethodsA Google.com search was conducted on August 9, 2020; 32 web sites were selected for analysis. Popularity was assessed by Google and Alexa rank. The quality of web sites was analyzed using the quality criteria for consumer health information (DISCERN) tool, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark, and the Health On the Net Code of Conduct Certification (HONcode). The readability of the web sites was assessed using the Fleschwebr hea Reading Ease, the Automated Readability Index, and the Fleschted Readability ResultsThe JAMA benchmark scores, unlike the DISCERN scores, were correlated with the Google and Alexa rank. One web site (3.1%) met all the JAMA benchmark criteria, and 3 (9.3%) others had HONcode certification. The median DISCERN score was 33 (range, 29.6–43.1; maximum possible, 80). Rnib.org.uk scored the highest at 57 (71.0%). The mean Flesch–Kincaid Reading Ease score (52.9 ± 7.1) corresponded to uk" n DIdifficult to read.” Thirty-one web sites (96.8%) had a Flesch–Kincaid Grade higher than the American Medical Association recommendation of sixth grade level. The median Automated Readability Index score was 7 (range, 6.2–7.3). ConclusionThe majority of online information currently available on keratoconus treatment is complex and highly variable. Rnib.org.uk is the best currently available source. Clinicians should inform patients on how to assess the credibility of online information and recommend suitable information sources.

Human Factors and Organizational Issues in Health Informatics: Innovations and Opportunities.

SummaryObjective: Human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) frameworks and methods are becoming embedded in the health informatics community. There is now broad recognition that health informatics tools must account for the diverse needs, characteristics, and abilities of end users, as well as their context of use. The objective of this review is to synthesize the current nature and scope of HF/E integration into the health informatics community. Methods: Because the focus of this synthesis is on understanding the current integration of the HF/E and health informatics research communities, we manually reviewed all manuscripts published in primary HF/E and health informatics journals during 2020. Results: HF/E-focused health informatics studies included in this synthesis focused heavily on EHR customizations, specifically clinical decision support customizations and customized data displays, and on mobile health innovations. While HF/E methods aimed to jointly improve end user safety, performance, and satisfaction, most HF/E-focused health informatics studies measured only end user satisfaction. Conclusion: HF/E-focused health informatics researchers need to identify and communicate methodological standards specific to health informatics, to better synthesize findings across resource intensive HF/E-focused health informatics studies. Important gaps in the HF/E design and evaluation process should be addressed in future work, including support for technology development platforms and training programs so that health informatics designers are as diverse as end users.

Leveraging data visualization and a statewide health information exchange to support COVID-19 surveillance and response: Application of public health informatics.

ObjectiveWe sought to support public health surveillance and response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) through rapid development and implementation of novel visualization applications for data amalgamated across sectors.Materials and MethodsWe developed and implemented population-level dashboards that collate information on individuals tested for and infected with COVID-19, in partnership with state and local public health agencies as well as health systems. The dashboards are deployed on top of a statewide health information exchange. One dashboard enables authorized users working in public health agencies to surveil populations in detail, and a public version provides higher-level situational awareness to inform ongoing pandemic response efforts in communities.ResultsBoth dashboards have proved useful informatics resources. For example, the private dashboard enabled detection of a local community outbreak associated with a meat packing plant. The public dashboard provides recent trend analysis to track disease spread and community-level hospitalizations. Combined, the tools were utilized 133 637 times by 74 317 distinct users between June 21 and August 22, 2020. The tools are frequently cited by journalists and featured on social media.DiscussionCapitalizing on a statewide health information exchange, in partnership with health system and public health leaders, Regenstrief biomedical informatics experts rapidly developed and deployed informatics tools to support surveillance and response to COVID-19.ConclusionsThe application of public health informatics methods and tools in Indiana holds promise for other states and nations. Yet, development of infrastructure and partnerships will require effort and investment after the current pandemic in preparation for the next public health emergency.

Lessons learned from inadequate implementation planning of team-based chronic disease management: implementation evaluation

BackgroundThis study was a retrospective evaluation of an unsuccessfully implemented team-based, chronic disease management program, with an aim to understand more about implementation barriers. The program, the Chronic Disease Management Initiative (CDMI) was a new collaborative model of care for patients with COPD. It utilized customized health information and interactive tools, mainly smartphones, for ongoing disease management. The program’s goal was to demonstrate that integrated team-based models of care could improve patient care, as well as reduce readmission rates and emergency department visits. The program planning for CDMI began in 2017, followed by the implementation and evaluation period in 2018. After a 10-month implementation period, the program was unable to enroll a sufficient number of patients to examine if there was an improvement in patient outcomes.MethodsA retrospective case-study design using multiple data sources was used to gather feedback from participants involved in CDMI. Data collection occurred throughout planning and implementation and continued into early 2019. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and transcripts were analyzed using NVivo 10 software. This was followed by content analysis.ResultsAnalysis revealed four key themes as barriers to CDMI’s implementation: 1) lack of a needs assessment with key stakeholders; 2) lack of buy-in from medical staff; 3) inadequate patient engagement and; 4) contextual barriers. Planners did not conduct a proper needs assessment, nor include patients in the study design. In addition, there was insufficient consideration for how CDMI should be integrated into the usual COPD care plan, leading to confusion in roles and responsibilities. Poor communication between the implementation team and healthcare providers implementing the program, led to a lack of buy-in and engagement.ConclusionThe key themes resonate with what is already known in the literature. This study supports the importance of using a theoretically grounded plan for implementation. Using a model only in the planning stages is insufficient even when an intervention is based on evidence to support higher quality care. It is imperative to consider practical and contextual factors of program implementation and their interactions. By detailing the ‘failed implementation’ of this intervention, we hope to share important lessons about the need to plan implementation processes early in program planning.

The Invention of Geospatial Decision Support System for Malaysian Tuberculosis Surveillance Data Management

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the capabilities of a health information tool for disease preparedness and emergency responses. In Malaysia, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has been using MyTB system to support the national tuberculosis (TB) control program through data decision-making management. However, this present system does not seem to be considering geospatial element which is one of the important factors affecting TB control. Integrating the MyTB system with geospatial functions would enhance the explicit cognitive and behavior analyses of TB by proposing a MyGeoTBIS© to assist the local health authorities in exploring TB dynamics and multi-level infection control. Keywords: Geospatial, GIS, MyGeoTBIS, MyTB, tuberculosis disease eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bsby e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5iSI3.2564

Accessibility and Usability Of Health Information Tools As Predictors Of Clinical Decision Making Among Medical Doctors In Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife

The efficacy and indispensable role of information sources accessible and used by clinical specialists for clinical decision-making cannot be over emphasized. Thus, this investigation assessed the entrance and utilization of wellbeing data assets as indicators of clinical dynamic among clinical specialists in Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Ile-Ife, Osun State. Arbitrary inspecting procedure was utilized to choose 265 clinical specialists from a populace of 822. Essential information were gotten on financial attributes of the respondents, level of availability, recurrence of utilization, different center aptitudes and difficulties obstructing the utilization of wellbeing data assets utilizing an organized survey and Focus bunch conversation (FGD). Information were dissected utilizing recurrence tallies, rates, mean, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and Multiple Regression. Results reveal that 59.8% of the respondents were male while 51.1% were within the ages of 30-49 years. Many (54.8%) of the respondents were married, while 41.7% were registrars (junior and senior). Findings revealed that Computerized Tomography Scan (CT; x = 3.49), electrocardiography machine (ECG; x =3.40), hatchery ( x = 3.15) and orthoscopic ( x = 3.15) were the significant wellbeing data assets available for clinical dynamic among clinical specialists. Result additionally uncovered that ECG machine ( x = 3.84),VCD ( x =3.82), web ( x =3.79), and remotely coordinating( x =3.78) were the every now and again got to wellbeing data assets. Much of the time used wellbeing data assets were; CT check ( x = 3.85), ECG machine ( x =3.73) and web ( x = 3.62). Findings further revealed that pattern recognition from experience ( x = 3.32), critical thinking without emotion ( x = 3.16), hypothesis updating ( x = 3.607) and perception based confidence ( x = 2.97) were the core skills used by clinical specialists in clinical decision making. The significant difficulties blocking the utilization of wellbeing data assets among clinical specialists for clinical dynamic were; ominous/conflicting government arrangements ( 3.15), financial status of clinical specialists ( x =3.14), insufficient subsidizing ( x =2.98) and absence of prepared staff in wellbeing data administrations conveyance ( x = 2.95). The center gathering conversation accentuated that clinical specialists should possess critical thinking without emotions and good time pressure balance in order to make right clinical decisions. PPMC revealed significant relationships (p < 0.05) between access to health information tools (r = 0.347), use of health information tools (r = 0.352) and clinical decision making. Multiple regression reveal that access to health information tools (?= 6.203) and use of health information tools (?= 5.443) significantly (p < 0.05) decide clinical dynamic among clinical specialists. The investigation inferred that clinical specialists have great access and utilization of wellbeing data assets to settle on clinical choices in the examination region. The investigation consequently suggested regular trainings of medical personnel on health information tools to enhance accurate result and decision making by clinical specialists.

The modeling of human facial pain intensity based on Temporal Convolutional Networks trained with video frames in HSV color space

An accurate detection and management of pain, measured through its relative intensity, plays an important role in the treatment of disease and reducing a patient’s discomfort. As it is relatively difficult to assess, describe, evaluate and manage the pain level using a patient’s self-report, automated pain-detecting tools can provide useful information to assist in the management of pain intensity. This study proposes a new predictive modeling framework that employs a modified Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) algorithm to recognize the pain intensity prevalent in patients’ video frames collected as part of UNBC-McMaster Shoulder Pain Archive and MIntPAIN databases. The inputs of the proposed TCN network is composed of the extracted and reduced face image features from a fine-tuned VGG-Face and principal component analysis (PCA) with Hue, Saturation, Value (HSV) color spaces video images. The results of TCN based predictive model, employing a long short-term memory (LSTM) model as well as other state-of-the art models, show that the proposed approach performs faster with a high level of efficiency. This is demonstrated by the low magnitude of error metrics (i.e., Mean Squared Error = 0.0629, Mean Absolute Error = 0.1021, correctness validation results represented by Area under Curve = 85% and accuracy metric = 92.44%). Considering the efficiency of the proposed TCN framework, integrating fine-tuned VGG-Face and PCA with Hue, Saturation, Value (HSV) color spaces video images for pain intensity estimation, the present study affirms that the new method can be adopted as an automatic health informatics tool, mainly for pain detection, and subsequently, implemented in the pain management area.

Differences in Electronic Personal Health Information Tool Use Between Rural and Urban Cancer Patients in the United States: Secondary Data Analysis.

BackgroundStudies have previously shown that rural cancer patients are diagnosed at later stages of disease. This delay is felt throughout treatment and follow-up, reflected in the fact that rural patients often have poorer clinical outcomes compared with their urban counterparts.ObjectiveFew studies have explored whether there is a difference in cancer patients’ current use of health information technology tools by residential location.MethodsData from 7 cycles of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS, 2003-2017) were merged and analyzed to examine whether differences exist in managing electronic personal health information (ePHI) and emailing health care providers among rural and urban cancer patients. Geographic location was categorized using Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCCs). Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression were used to determine whether associations existed between rural/urban residency and use of health information technology among cancer patients.ResultsOf the 3031 cancer patients/survivors who responded across the 7 cycles of HINTS, 797 (26.9%) resided in rural areas. No difference was found between rural and urban cancer patients in having managed ePHI in the past 12 months (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.43-1.40). Rural cancer patients were significantly less likely to email health care providers than their urban counterparts (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.32-0.84).ConclusionsThe digital divide between rural and urban cancer residents does not extend to general ePHI management; however, electronic communication with providers is significantly lower among rural cancer patients than urban cancer patients. Further research is needed to determine whether such disparities extend to other health information technology tools that might benefit rural cancer patients as well as other chronic conditions.