Poor Information Quality Research Articles

The reliability of the Internet for patient-centred education for surgical procedures

Background There is increasing use of the Internet by patients as an educational tool prior to a surgical procedure. However, the quality of information is highly variable, and it is imperative that as clinicians, we are aware of the information available to ensure that consent is valid and avoid unrealistic expectations. Our aim is to assess the quality of medical information available on the Internet related to common surgical procedures. Methods Analysis of the quality of patient information on 10 websites for six common surgical conditions ( n = 54 following exclusions) was assessed using the DISCERN questionnaire and, for readability, using the Flesch reading ease test. Results There was high variation in the DISCERN score from 1.34 to 4.4 (mean 2.75). Overall, poor quality of patient information is available. Consistent scoring below 55 on Flesch reading ease score suggests a reading level beyond the majority of the patient population. Conclusion The majority of patient-centred health education on the Internet is poor. Therefore, improved verbal and written information during consultation combined with local, national and international websites is important to meet patient’s expectations and avoid issues regarding consent.

Afterthoughts on colonoscopy. Was it that bad?

Colorectal cancer is among the top three most common cancers globally. In order to reduce the health burden, it is important to improve the uptake of colorectal cancer screening by understanding the barriers and facilitators encountered. There are numerous reports in the literature on the views of the general public on cancer screening. However, the experiences of colonoscopy patients are not as well studied. This paper maps their perceptions. Keyword searches for terms such as 'colorectal', 'colonoscopy' and 'qualitative' were conducted on 3 December 2019 in five databases: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Science Core Collection. Qualitative articles that quoted colonoscopy-experienced patients with no prior history of colorectal cancer were included for the thematic analysis. The systematic review was then synthesized according to PRISMA guidelines. The major themes were distilled into three categories: pre-procedure, during and post-procedure. The factors identified in the pre-procedure phase include the troublesome bowel preparation, poor quality of information provided and the dynamics within a support network. Perceptions of pain, emotional discomfort and the role of providers mark the experience during the procedure. The receipt of results, opportunities given for discussion and finances relating to colonoscopy are important post-procedure events. Understanding colorectal cancer screening behaviour is fundamental for healthcare providers and authorities to develop system and personal level changes for the improvement of colorectal cancer screening services. The key areas include patient comfort, the use of clearer instructional aids and graphics, establishing good patient rapport, and the availability of individualized options for sedation and the procedure.

Quality Assessment of Information on Oral Cancer Provided at Arabic Speaking Websites.

Patients often use Inernet to explore information about their health and disease. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of information on oral cancer provided at Arabic websites. The translated Arabic keywords of "oral cancer" and treatment of oral cancer" and 6 search engines were used. The top 100 websites were selected. Irrelevant and duplicates websites were excluded. To evaluate the quality of websites and their information, DISCERN, HON, and JAMA benchmarks were used. The majority (n = 64, 74.4%) of websites were founded by profit organizations. The mean overall rating was 2.23 (1.6) out of 5 and the median overall rating was 1 (1-3) based on DISCERN. According to HON, only 4.7% of the websites achieved a high score (≥75) and 37.2% of the websites gained a low score (<50). Based on JAMA benchmarks, 15% of the websites did not fulfill any criteria and only 2% of them fulfilled the four criteria proposed by the JAMA benchmarks. This study suggested the poor quality of web-based Arabic information on oral cancer. It is recommended to develop a websites based system by which enable to the Arabic websites related to oral cancer know their shortfalls, therefore, improve their quality according to evaluation tools which will ensure finding reliable data from the websites.<br />.

Big Data and Its Applications in Smart Real Estate and the Disaster Management Life Cycle: A Systematic Analysis

Big data is the concept of enormous amounts of data being generated daily in different fields due to the increased use of technology and internet sources. Despite the various advancements and the hopes of better understanding, big data management and analysis remain a challenge, calling for more rigorous and detailed research, as well as the identifications of methods and ways in which big data could be tackled and put to good use. The existing research lacks in discussing and evaluating the pertinent tools and technologies to analyze big data in an efficient manner which calls for a comprehensive and holistic analysis of the published articles to summarize the concept of big data and see field-specific applications. To address this gap and keep a recent focus, research articles published in last decade, belonging to top-tier and high-impact journals, were retrieved using the search engines of Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science that were narrowed down to a set of 139 relevant research articles. Different analyses were conducted on the retrieved papers including bibliometric analysis, keywords analysis, big data search trends, and authors’ names, countries, and affiliated institutes contributing the most to the field of big data. The comparative analyses show that, conceptually, big data lies at the intersection of the storage, statistics, technology, and research fields and emerged as an amalgam of these four fields with interlinked aspects such as data hosting and computing, data management, data refining, data patterns, and machine learning. The results further show that major characteristics of big data can be summarized using the seven Vs, which include variety, volume, variability, value, visualization, veracity, and velocity. Furthermore, the existing methods for big data analysis, their shortcomings, and the possible directions were also explored that could be taken for harnessing technology to ensure data analysis tools could be upgraded to be fast and efficient. The major challenges in handling big data include efficient storage, retrieval, analysis, and visualization of the large heterogeneous data, which can be tackled through authentication such as Kerberos and encrypted files, logging of attacks, secure communication through Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS), data imputation, building learning models, dividing computations into sub-tasks, checkpoint applications for recursive tasks, and using Solid State Drives (SDD) and Phase Change Material (PCM) for storage. In terms of frameworks for big data management, two frameworks exist including Hadoop and Apache Spark, which must be used simultaneously to capture the holistic essence of the data and make the analyses meaningful, swift, and speedy. Further field-specific applications of big data in two promising and integrated fields, i.e., smart real estate and disaster management, were investigated, and a framework for field-specific applications, as well as a merger of the two areas through big data, was highlighted. The proposed frameworks show that big data can tackle the ever-present issues of customer regrets related to poor quality of information or lack of information in smart real estate to increase the customer satisfaction using an intermediate organization that can process and keep a check on the data being provided to the customers by the sellers and real estate managers. Similarly, for disaster and its risk management, data from social media, drones, multimedia, and search engines can be used to tackle natural disasters such as floods, bushfires, and earthquakes, as well as plan emergency responses. In addition, a merger framework for smart real estate and disaster risk management show that big data generated from the smart real estate in the form of occupant data, facilities management, and building integration and maintenance can be shared with the disaster risk management and emergency response teams to help prevent, prepare, respond to, or recover from the disasters.

Impressions of digital soil maps: The good, the not so good, and making them ever better

Since the turn of the millennium, digital soil mapping (DSM) has revolutionized the production of fine resolution gridded soil data with associated uncertainty. However, the link to conventional soil maps has not been sufficiently explained nor are the approaches complementary and synergistic. Further training on the digital soil mapping approaches, and associated strengths and weaknesses is required. The user community requires training in, and experience with, the new digital soil map products, especially about the use of uncertainties for risk modelling and policy development. Standards are required for public and private sector digital soil map products to prevent the production of poor-quality information which will become misleading and counter-productive. Machine-learning methods are to be used with caution with respect to their interpretability and parsimony. The use of DSM products for improved pedological understanding and soil survey interpretations requires urgent investigation.

Productivity Improvement of Transmission Electron Microscopes - A Case Study

This paper aims to improve the performance of Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM) used in asbestos detection processes in a business context. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) were studied, identifying the critical failure modes, proposing risk reduction measures and changing maintenance practices based on the Reliability Centered Maintenance strategy. In the elaboration of the FMEA it was evident the lack of data and poor information quality regarding the reliability and maintenance of TEM. These circumstances led to the implementation of training projects to standardize operations and to the development of a software application for data collection and reports generation with relevant performance indicators (Costs, Mean Down Time, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, …) to support operators tasks and decision-making. The approach followed and the tools developed allowed monitoring TEM productivity and maintenance performance. As a result, more informed decisions can be made that will lead to improved performance of TEM.

Oversampling methods combined clustering and data cleaning for imbalanced network data

In network anomaly detection, network traffic data are often imbalanced, that is, certain classes of network traffic data have a large sample data volume while other classes have few, resulting in reduced overall network traffic anomaly detection on a minority class of samples. For imbalanced data, researchers have proposed the use of oversampling techniques to balance data sets; in particular, an oversampling method called the SMOTE provides a simple and effective solution for balancing data sets. However, current oversampling methods suffer from the generation of noisy samples and poor information quality. Hence, this study proposes an oversampling method for imbalanced network traffic data that combines the SMOTE algorithm and FINCH clustering algorithm to filter out minority sample clusters, proposes a scheme to allocate the number of synthetic samples per cluster according to the clustering sparsity and sample weight, and finally uses multi-layer sensors for noisy sample cleaning during sampling. We compare the proposed method with other oversampling methods, verifying that a data set processed using this method works better in network traffic anomaly detection.

Information environment of official statistics

The aim of the paper is to examine the influence of the information environment of a society or economy on public statistics, as well as demonstrating how official statistics can affect the quality of information environments of modern societies and economies in the context of global technologies and IT systems. In modern information societies and knowledge-based economies, the quality of information environments in which citizens, economic entities, public administration institutions and international organisations are functioning has a decisive influence on the political, social and economic order. These environments are shaped by interest groups which control information systems and processes at the local, national, international and global levels. The above-mentioned groups take advantage of the fundamental law of information, i.e. that poor quality information overrides good quality information, to eliminate any information that could make it more difficult for them to control the behavior of people, including social groups, and entities created by people, which participate in the political and economic processes. The paper examines the effects the contamination of the social information environment has on the political and social life and the economy. Attention has been drawn to the influence of the quality of information environment on official statistics and the perception of statistical data, as well as to using reliable statistical data to disinform and contaminate social and economic information environments by manipulating these data. The paper also shows how public statistics can influence information environments and its significance for the safety of the general public.

Views of veterinarians and meat inspectors concerning the practical application of visual meat inspection on domestic pigs in Finland

The post-mortem inspection of domestic pigs within the European Union was revised in 2014, primarily to include visual meat inspection of each carcase and offal. Palpations and incisions were removed from routine meat inspection procedures, as they are mostly used to detect pathological lesions caused by organisms irrelevant for public health, and instead can cause cross-contamination of carcases with foodborne pathogens. However, examination of all external surfaces of the carcase and organs, declaration of patho-physiological lesions as unfit for human consumption, and possibility for minimal handling of carcases and offals were held in place. In addition, the European Food Safety Authority suggested that palpation and incisions should be performed outside the slaughter line, but this was not incorporated in the revised legislation. We surveyed in 2014 the opinions of meat inspectors and veterinarians using an online questionnaire to determine what practical measures are required for the visual meat inspection procedure and when meat inspection staff consider additional palpations and incisions necessary. Based on the survey, turning the carcase and organs or technical arrangements such as mirrors were seen necessary to view all external surfaces. In addition, the pluck set cannot be trimmed on the side line. Local lesions, such as abscesses and lesions in the lymph nodes, signs of systemic infection and lymphoma, were the major lesions requiring additional post-mortem meat inspection procedures. Meat inspection personnel raised concerns on the poor quality of food chain information and export requirements demanding palpations and incisions. The efficient use of visual meat inspection requires legislation to better support the implementation and application of it, changes in the slaughter line layout and a possibility to classify incoming pig batches based on their risk.

A STANDARDISED MODEL TO QUANTIFY THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF POOR ENGINEERING INFORMATION QUALITY IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

CITATION: Coetzer, E. O. & Vlok, P. J. 2019. A standardised model to quantify the financial impact of poor engineering information quality in the oil and gas industry. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 30(4):131-142, doi:10.7166/30-4-2080.

Does Google™ Have the Answers? The Internet-based Information on Pelvic and Acetabular Fractures.

IntroductionThe aim of this study is to assess the readability and reliability of internet-based information on pelvic and acetabular fractures.MethodsThe three most popular English-based internet search engines are Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Quality was assessed using the DISCERN tool, the Journal of the American Medical Association tool, and the presence of the Health on the Net Code (HONcode) seal. Readability was assessed using a combination of the Flesch Reading Ease Score and the Flesch-Kincaid grade level. Inclusion criteria included English language websites with the relevant search terms. We excluded videos, YouTube links, or sponsored advertisements. Search terms included acetabular fracture/fractured acetabulum and pelvic fracture/fractured pelvis. The top 25 websites in each search engine were reviewed. The searches for acetabular fractures and pelvic fractures generated 75 websites in total. Duplicates were excluded.ResultsThe search for acetabular fracture revealed 36 discrete websites among the three search engines, and the search for pelvic fractures revealed 45 websites. Overall, the average reading grade was 9.7 for acetabular websites and 13.6 for pelvis websites. The quality of the websites was poor across all key performance indicators studied.ConclusionPhysicians should be aware of the quality of medical information available to patients via internet searches because physicians should play a central role in the navigation of poor quality information to help direct patient-centered care.

Disinformation, Digital Information Equality, and Electoral Integrity

Digital information attacks to a country’s electoral integrity have been recognized as a cybersecurity threat by several governments. Disinformation, defined as information that is intentionally false or deliberately misleading, is especially hard to regulate in the elections context, where the free flow of political discourse is an integral part of public confidence in the electoral process but must be balanced with the impact of false information that could undermine public confidence in the electoral process and undermine the ability of voters to participate meaningfully in the electoral process. Electoral disinformation campaigns intentionally deceive voters, thereby disrupting the notion of fair elections. Over-regulation of political speech, however, can imperil the political participation of the informed voter, who in turn engages and influences other voters. Policies for regulating electoral disinformation must therefore balance the tension between curbing speech and encouraging voters to engage in political participation through the free flow of information. Canadian elections law offers a possible solution for jurisdictions seeking to effectively regulate disinformation without unduly stifling free expression through the principle of “information equality,” which predates the recent discussions around online disinformation. The principle of information equality as originally conceptualized notably did not necessarily protect access to true or accurate information. Instead, information equality was supposed to ensure that voters have access to the same information at roughly the same time. In the modern context of rising threats of cyber-disinformation, where disinformation can be generated quickly and remotely and spread rapidly and to precise targets, we argue information equality should address the perception and reality of electoral unfairness arising from disinformation, where voters are subjected to poor quality information that is difficult to restrain and difficult to correct. Accordingly, we argue for an updated principle of digital information equality that would seek to protect the quality of information that voters receive at election time, and we apply this principle of digital information equality to address the harms of disinformation in the elections context. By re-invigorating the principle of information equality and adapting it from a theoretical concept to a regulatory device, this paper proposes a new method to regulate electoral disinformation while supporting an informed electorate, respecting democratic principles, and protecting electoral integrity. In so doing, the paper identifies three examples of harmful electoral disinformation that warrant increased regulation and concludes with a series of recommendations for other jurisdictions seeking to regulate disinformation in the electoral context.

Impact Of Computerized Accounting Information System On Small And Medium Enterprises In Mogadishu, Somalia: The Balance Scorecard Perspectives

Information, communication and technology (ICT) adoption has increased dramatically over time irrespective of organizations, be public or private, profit or not for profit organizations around the world. No doubt that ICT investment will spur economic growth as studied done by many countries. The African Union Agenda 2063 has acknowledged the importance of digital inclusivity for African countries to be on par with the rest of the world as an information society. African nation and Somalia particularly have still some challenges to deploy ICT on the concern of availability, accessibility and affordability. Nevertheless, in a business environment where businesses compete in the highly fragile market, ICT modernization in all business processes including accounting is a crucial tool for continuous improvement towards competitive services offered to customers. The implementation and adaption computerized accounting systems (CAIS) for any organization such as SMEs will enable the management and owners to improve decision making, internal controls and financial information, as well as enable financial reporting to be designed and processed on a standardized format and timely. It was reported that the use of inefficient information to support financial decision making and poor quality and reliability of financial information were part of the major SMEs challenges. Therefore, this study attempts to understand the usage of CAIS and its impact on the performance of SMEs in Somalia. The survey questionnaire is designed and distributed to selected SMEs in the capital city of Mogadishu, Somalia. The results of CAIS’s impact are discussed from four components of balanced scorecard namely financial, customer, internal processes and learning &amp; growth perspectives. The results of this study may provide knowledge about the impact of usage CAIS for SMEs performance in Somalia

A combined strategy for improving productivity and well-being

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper uncovered that the leading causes of stress among construction professionals are work and information dependency, receiving inadequate information, and receiving poor quality information. The construction industry’s grueling work culture can be improved by management setting more realistic budgets and timescales, by companies training construction professionals in effective teamwork and stress management strategies, and through deploying information management technology to set effective communication standards. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Improving Information Quality Requirements for Online Health Information Systems: A Review on the Previous Frameworks

Access to online health information has increased tremendously as it gives patients competency to find answers related to their health. The value of online health information is strongly depends on the quality of the information provided to the users. However, there are evidences that some online health information portals provide poor quality of information, due to the exclusion of information quality requirements in the early stages of the system development process. The objective of this research is to review existing frameworks that capture information quality requirements and to select a framework that is appropriate for the research. A total of six frameworks were searched and analyzed from various sources. The findings show that most frameworks focus more on technical aspect when capturing information quality requirements rather than the human aspect, which is the actual use of the information by the users. This research provide some insights to the health practitioners and system developers about the importance of capturing information quality at the early stage of system development based on actual information use.

Internal Control Weakness and the Asymmetrical Behavior of Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

Firms with internal control weakness (ICW) problems are less likely to provide managers with timely and precise information useful for internal resource management. The real options theory implies that managers in ICW firms, faced with information uncertainty, are more likely to postpone downward adjustments of slack resources by exercising an option to wait until more information about future business prospects becomes available. Based upon this theory, we hypothesize and find that selling, general, and administrative (SG&amp;A) costs are stickier for ICW firms than for non-ICW firms. We also find that the effect of ICW on SG&amp;A cost stickiness is primarily attributable to internal information control problems, and becomes weakened significantly after firms remediate previously reported ICW. This impact of ICW on SG&amp;A cost stickiness is robust to controlling for the possible influence of omitted variables, accounting for potential endogeneity in the presence of ICW, and using a firm-specific measure of cost stickiness. Our results are consistent with the prediction of the real options theory in that poor information quality associated with ICW incents managers to postpone downward adjustments of SG&amp;A resources until the information uncertainty is resolved.

Knowledge, provision of information and barriers to high quality medication abortion provision by pharmacists in Uttar Pradesh, India

BackgroundThe use of medication abortion is increasing rapidly in India, the majority of which is purchased through pharmacies. More information is needed about the quality of services provided by pharmacist about medication abortion, especially barriers to providing high quality information. The goal of this study was to explore the quality of pharmacist medication abortion provision using mixed methods to inform the developed of an intervention for this population.MethodsData was collected via convenience sampling using three methods: a quantitative survey of pharmacists (N = 283), mystery clients (N = 111), and in-depth qualitative interviews with pharmacist (N = 11). Quality indictors from the quantitative data from surveys and mystery clients were compared. Qualitative interviews were used to elucidate reasons behind findings from the quantitative survey.ResultsQuality of information provided to client purchasing medication abortion was low, especially related to timing and dosing of misoprostol (18% of pharmacists knew correct timing) and side effects (31% not telling any information on side effects). Mystery clients reported lower quality (less correct information) than pharmacists reported about their own behaviors. Qualitative interviews suggested that many barriers exist for pharmacists, including perceptions about what information clients can understand and desire, and also lack of comfort giving certain information to certain types of clients (young women).ConclusionsIt is essential to improve the quality of information given to client purchasing medication abortion from pharmacists. Our findings highlight specific gaps in knowledge and reasons for poor quality information. Differences in guidelines available at that time from the Indian Government, World Health Organization, and the medication abortion boxes may lead to confusion amongst pharmacists and potentially clients. Interventions need to improve both knowledge about medication abortion and also biases in the provision of care.

Shadow detection and correction using a combined 3D GIS and image processing approach

While shadow can give useful information about size and shape of objects, it can pose problems in feature detection and object detection, thereby, it represents one of the major perturbator phenomenons frequently occurring on images and unfortunately, it is inevitable. “Shadows may lead to the failure of image analysis processes and also cause a poor quality of information which in turn leads to problems in implementation of algorithms.” (Mahajan and Bajpayee, 2015). It also affects multiple image analysis applications, whereby shadow cast by buildings deteriorate the spectral values of the surfaces. Therefore, its presence causes a deterioration in the visual image's quality and limits the information that the former could give. Ignoring the existence of shadows in images may cause serious problems in various visual processing applications such as false objects detection. In this context, many researches have been conducted through years. However, it is still a challenge for analysts all over the world to find a fully automated and efficient method for shadow removal from images.

The role of practitioners in helping persons make effective use of information and communication technology in career interventions

We examine the role of counselors and other practitioners in delivering career interventions using Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Current benefits and limitations of ICT use provide the basis for recommendations. Potential benefits of increased ICT engagement include cost-effectiveness and improved access to resources and support. Potential limitations include poor assessment and information quality, limited practitioner support when needed, problems with distance intervention and social media, confidentiality of client records, inequality of access, inadequate competencies, and poor implementation. Specific practitioner roles are identified, and those related to social media are elaborated. Implications for theory, research, training, and policy are provided.

We Have All Been Working in Our Own Little Silos Forever: Exploring a Cross-Sector Response to Child Maltreatment

ObjectiveA child protective services (CPS) investigation for maltreatment signals risk for childhood toxic stress and poor health outcomes. Despite this, communication between child welfare and health care professionals is rare. We present a qualitative exploration of experiences with, barriers to, and hopes for cross-sector collaboration for children with suspected maltreatment. MethodsWe conducted focus groups with child welfare and health care professionals participating in a cross-sector learning collaborative to improve care for children at high risk for toxic stress. Participants were asked to describe 2 phenomena: identifying and responding to childhood adversities in their professional settings and cross-sector collaboration in cases of suspected maltreatment. Analysis included an iterative process of reading, coding and comparing themes across groups. ResultsHealth care professionals shared positive experiences in screening for social risks in clinic, while child welfare professionals expressed mixed attitudes toward social risk screening during CPS investigations. Consistent with prior research, health care professionals reported limited communication with CPS caseworkers about patients but suggested that relationships with child welfare professionals might reduce these barriers. Child welfare professionals described the poor quality of information provided in referrals from medical settings. Caseworkers also recognized that improved communication could support better understanding of maltreatment concerns and sharing of outcomes of CPS investigation. ConclusionsOur project extends previously published research by describing potential benefits of child welfare and child health care collaboration in cases of suspected maltreatment. Lack of effective cross-sector communication and concerns about confidentiality present significant barriers to uptake of these collaborative practices.