U-health Services Research Articles

Patient income level and health insurance correlate with differences in health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the coronavirus outbreak of 2019 (COVID-19) came many changes in how health care is accessed and delivered. Perhaps most notable is the massive expansion of telemedicine, especially in the developed world. With pandemic-induced economic and health care system disruptions, it is reasonable to expect changes in how health care services are utilized by different patients. We examined how health care service usage trends changed for various patient demographics from the pre-COVID-19 era to the COVID-19 era. De-identified patient demographics and telemedicine, in-patient, in-person out-patient, radiology/procedures, and emergency department visit data (N = 1,164,719) between January 1st, 2019 and May 31st, 2021 were obtained from UHealth in Miami, Florida, USA. This cross-sectional study employed descriptive statistics and other tools to determine relationships between patient demographics and health system usage. There were significant changes in health care usage and demographics for UHealth services from the pre-COVID-19 era to the COVID-19 era. There was an increase in telehealth visits and a corollary decrease of in-person out-patient visits (p < 0.001) along with increased health care utilization by those with commercial insurance (p < 0.001) during COVID-19. Lower-income patients had increased use of in-person out-patient services (p < 0.001). Non-Hispanic, English-speaking patients and those with higher median incomes had higher telemedicine usage. COVID-19 revealed differences in health care access, particularly telemedicine access, and highlighted differences in vulnerability among patient demographics. These trends are likely multifactorial and reflect changes in patients' preferences and disparities in care access.

Network anomaly detection based on probabilistic analysis

In this paper, we provide a detection technology for a common type of network intrusion (traffic flood attack) using an anomaly data detection method based on probabilistic model analysis. Victim’s computers under attack show various symptoms such as degradation of TCP throughput, increase of CPU usage, increase of RTT (Round Trip Time), frequent disconnection to the web sites, and etc. These symptoms can be used as components to comprise k-dimensional feature space of multivariate normal distribution where an anomaly detection method can be applied for the detection of the attack. These features are in general correlated one another. In other words, most of these symptoms are caused by the attack, so they are highly correlated. Thus we choose only a few of these features for the anomaly detection in multivariate normal distribution. We study this technology for those IoT networks prepared to provide u-health services in the future, where stable and consistent network connectivity is extremely important because the connectivity is highly related to the loss of human lives eventually.

A Semantic Framework for Continuous U-health Services Provisioning

The need of having a more preventive, personalized and anticipatory healthcare for chronically ill patients entails a continuous provisioning of health services everywhere, anytime and to anyone. The ubiquitous computing paradigm is an approach to realize this vision. Nevertheless, the use of all potential ubiquitous health services and contextual information is quite limited in the literature. To tackle this issue, this paper proposes a semantic framework for continuous ubiquitous services provisioning. Patients needs are represented in business processes. Also, this paper proposes a semantic description model of processes, services, as well as medical and environmental contextual information, in order to make it easier to select appropriate services out of semantically selected business processes. The suitability of the framework is evaluated through a case study for respiratory chronic disease, by making use of real patient data and health professionals from a public pediatric hospital.

WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 WBAN 프로토콜의 시각 동기 구조 설계

ABSTRACT Wearable computer systems can use the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. In this paper, we focus on an integrated system of the wireless USB over the IEEE 802.15.6 wireless body area networks (WBAN) for wireless wearable computer systems supporting U-health services. And a communication structure that performs the time-synchronization is proposed for WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 hierarchical protocol. Proposed time-synchronization mechanisms adopt the WBAN Polling Access and combine it with a time-synchronization middleware using time stamps. In our performance evaluations, time-synchronization performances with only WBAN Polling Access scheme are analyzed first. After that, performances combined with the time-synchronization middleware are analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed time-synchronization structure in WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6. 키워드 : 무선인체통신, 무선홈네트워크, 무선USB, 웨어러블컴퓨터, 유-헬스

WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 통합 MAC 프로토콜의 Hibernation 구조 설계

웨어러블 컴퓨터 시스템은 WiMedia PHY/MAC 기술과 결합된 USB 기술로 WUSB (wireless universal serial bus) 기술을 사용하여 구성할 수 있다. 본 논문은 U-Health 기능을 지원하는 무선 웨어러블 컴퓨터시스템을 구성하기 위해 WUSB기술과 IEEE 802.15.6 WBAN (wireless body area networks) 기술을 결합한 통신시스템 구조에 초점을 맞추었다. 그리고 IEEE 802.15.6 기반 WUSB 통신 구조에서 저전력 Hibernation 통신 구조를 제안하였다. 제안하는 Hibernation 구조는 WBAN Wakeup Period 및 Wakeup Phase 메시지 필드들을 사용하여, WBAN의 주기적인 Inactive 구간에서 WUSB 통신 구간을 할당한다. 성능 평가에서는 WBAN Wakeup Period에 따른 성능 및 WUSB 통신량에 따른 성능을 비교분석하여, WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 통신구조에서 제안한 Hibernation 구조의 효율성을 평가하였다. Wearable computer systems can use the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. In this paper, we focus on an integrated system of the wireless USB over the IEEE 802.15.6 wireless body area networks (WBAN) for wireless wearable computer systems supporting U-health services. And a communication structure that performs the hibernation for low power consumption is proposed for WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 hierarchical protocol. In the proposed hibernation mechanisms, WUSB communications are permitted at each m-periodic inactive periods of WBAN superframes by using the WBAN information of Wakeup Period and Wakeup Phase message fields. In our performance evaluations, performances according to amount of WUSB traffic and Wakeup Periods are analyzed respectively to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed hibernation structure in WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6.

IEEE 802.15.6 표준 기반 무선 USB 서비스의 차등화된 WBAN 트래픽 QoS 제공 방안

최근 컴퓨터 기술의 발전으로 웨어러블 컴퓨터 기술이 개발되고 있다. 이는 HCI (human-centric interface)기술과 유비쿼터스 컴퓨팅 기술을 기반으로 한다. 웨어러블 컴퓨터 시스템은 WiMedia PHY/MAC 기술과 결합된 USB 기술로 WUSB (wireless universal serial bus) 기술을 사용하여 구성할 수 있다. 본 논문은 U-Health 기능을 지원하는 무선 웨어러블 컴퓨터시스템을 구성하기 위해 WUSB기술과 IEEE 802.15.6 WBAN (wireless body area networks) 기술을 결합한 통신시스템 구조에 초점을 맞추었다. 그리고 IEEE 802.15.6 기반 WUSB 통신 구조에서 서로 다른 전송 우선 순위를 갖는 U-health WBAN 트래픽 및 WUSB트래픽의 QoS를 차등화하기 위한 통신 구조를 제안하였다. 제안내용 및 성능 평가에서는 단일 클래스 및 다중 클래스 환경에서 U-health WBAN 및 WUSB 트래픽의 수율 성능을 분석하여, WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 통신구조에서 QoS 차등화 효율성을 평가하였다. A recent major development in computer technology is the advent of the wearable computer system that is based on human-centric interface technology trends and ubiquitous computing environments. Wearable computer systems can use the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. In this paper, we focus on an integrated system of the wireless USB over the IEEE 802.15.6 wireless body area networks (WBAN) for wireless wearable computer systems supporting U-health services. And a communication structure that can differentiate QoS of U-health WBAN and WUSB traffic with different priorities is proposed for WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6 hierarchical protocol. In our proposal and performance evaluation, throughputs of U-health WBAN and WUSB traffic are analyzed under single and multiple QoS classes to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed QoS differentiating structure in WUSB over IEEE 802.15.6.

Interconnections of Object Management for U-healthcare Services

Enterprise Information Technology (IT) professionals have reached the practical limits of two-tier architectures. Facing growing pressure to deliver broad-reaching application functionality quickly and cost-effectively, IT departments are turning to distributed object computing as the adaptive software architecture on which to build applications that meet these challenging business requirements. Besides, as a growing number of sophisticated services are provided over the Internet, the need arises to coordinate application objects into transactions, in such a way as to enable functionality and data to be shared across applications and over multiple platforms. The distributed computing environments provide various open u-healthcare multimedia services through telecommunication information networking structure developing based on object-oriented concepts and distributed technology which can be applied new services with a few changes over the existing networks. The existing object model in distributed computing environment has the limitations of the individual object modeling and the complexity of object’s management according to large capacity of distributed applications. In this paper, we design and implement the object group model that can be functionally and efficiently managed the individual objects in a given environment for decreasing the complexity in the distributed software’s management and development for u-health care services object management. We also presents the analysis of requirements and functions required to propose the object group model for u-healthcare, and depicts the functional structure in details using its analysis. We design the interaction procedures among the components of the object group for management and service functions for our object group model. And we show procedures using interaction procedure diagrams and ETDs(Event Tracing Diagram)s. Keyword: Distributed Computing Environments, u-healthcare multimedia services, distributed software’s management, ETD (Event Tracing Diagram)

Low-income Elders' Experiences in Using u-Health (Ubiquitous Healthcare) Services

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to understand low-income elders’ experiences of community-based u-Health services. Methods: Qualitative data were collected from 11 participants. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcribed data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Three themes and eight sub-themes emerged as a result of analysis. The three main themes were ‘recovered confidence and health condition,’ ‘trial and error in change,’ and ‘hope.’The eight sub-themes were ‘the burden and efforts to overcome it in using bio-signal device,’ ‘ambivalence due to changing lifestyle,’ ‘increase of care time, decrease of pressure’, ‘conflict under environmental constraints,’ ‘difficulty in prioritizing health management,’ ‘discouragement in handling new devices,’ ‘desire not to be a burden to their children-gradual fulfillment of learning needs,’ and ‘long for broadening coverage range of services.’ Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that low-income elders among the participants have different needs in using u-Health services. Therefore, health professionals need to give personalized education to deal with their conflicts and requirements, especially emotional and environmental support in order for them to successfully accept the u-Health services for self-care.

Clock skew compensator for wireless wearable computer systems

Wearable computer systems can use the wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) that refers to USB technology that is merged with WiMedia PHY/MAC technical specifications. In this paper, we focus on an integrated system of the wireless USB over the IEEE 802.15.6 wireless body area networks (WBAN) for wireless wearable computer systems supporting U-health services. This paper proposes a clock skew compensator to allow offset and skew compensations to be processed simultaneously. Our skew compensator can be easily integrated with traditional offset compensation schemes. The results of simulation and experiment show that the accuracy of time synchronization can be greatly improved through our skew compensation algorithm.

Effects of Consumer-Centered u-Health Service for the Knowledge, Skill, and Attitude of the Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Through the use of ubiquitous health, or u-Health, services, medical information can be adapted and made accessible via computer and Internet to provide quality healthcare to anybody, any place, and any time. We developed and implemented u-Health services for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and studied their experiences with respect to their knowledge of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and skill and attitude toward the u-Health devices. The u-Health services were composed of telemonitoring and teleconsultation supplemented with home visits. To determine its effectiveness, the u-Health service system was implemented for 2 years with 144 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in a clinical experiment. The subjects were divided into three experimental groups, each provided with different services, compared before and after intervention, and among groups. The analysis of data gathered through the system suggested that u-Health services can support patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, improve patients' knowledge about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease self-management, build u-Health device usage skills, and foster a positive attitude toward u-Health devices. The u-Health services for the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients were both feasible and effective from the patients' perspective.

IEEE 11073 개인건강기기별 표준 현황 및 분석

평균수명연장과 건강에 대한 관심 증가는 언제 어디서나 서비스 가능한 유헬스 산업을 활성화시키고 있으며, 표준화 역시 여러 국제표준기구를 통해 다뤄지고 있다. 그 중 IEEE 11073 PHD(Personal Health Devices) WG은 개인건강기기와 관리기기의 상호운용성 보장을 위해 개인건강기기 통신 프로토콜에 대한 표준화 작업을 진행하고 있다. 그동안 개인건강기기 기본 표준인 IEEE 11073-20601에 대한 분석과 유헬스 표준화 단체에 대한 연구는 많이 있었으나 개인건강기기별 표준에 대한 분석은 부족하여 해당 표준에 접근하는데 많은 어려움이 있었다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 개인건강기기 관련 국내외 표준화 기구와 현재 IEEE 11073 PHD WG에서 다뤄지는 표준화 현황을 언급하고 IEEE 11073-20601를 바탕으로 체온계, 체중계, 혈당계, 혈압계, 심전계 등 각 개인건강기기별 표준의 특징을 분석하였다. Increasing interest of life expectancy and health has made the u-health industry activating and the several international standard developing organizations(SDO) are dealing with u-health services and technologies. Among them, IEEE 11073 PHD(Personal Health Devices) Work Group is developing standards of personal health device communication for interoperability. There are many studies for introducing SDOs and analyzing the IEEE 11073-20601 standard. However, due to the rare study of PHD standards analysis, there are a lot of difficulties to utilize the standards. In this paper, present status of national and international SDOs including IEEE 11073 standards for PHD will be introduced. Moreover, device specialization standards such as thermometer, weighing scale, glucose meter, blood pressure monitor, electrocardiograph (ECG) etc.. will be analyzed based on the IEEE 11073-20601.

Acceptability of the Consumer-Centric u-Health Services for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

We developed and implemented a system for u-health (ubiquitous healthcare) services for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and studied the level of acceptability by the patients in the context of home visits and telephone education. To determine its effectiveness, the u-health service system was used for 2 years with 144 COPD patients in a clinical environment. Patients were provided with the u-healthcare service. Patients with COPD were highly satisfied with the u-healthcare service, which incorporated telemonitoring, teleconsultation, and tele-education along with home visits. The average acceptable fees (in USD) of the service system are as follows: u-health device, $421.28; home visit, $21.53/visit; tele-education, $0.53/min or $26.57/month; and total service fee, $44.26/month. COPD patients accepted u-health services with a high satisfaction rate, promising a new paradigm of consumer-centric healthcare services.

A Study on Methods to Invigorate u-Health Services Seen in a Supplier Awareness Survey - Focusing on Health Center Workers -

A Study on Methods to Invigorate u-Health Services Seen in a Supplier Awareness Survey - Focusing on Health Center Workers -

유헬스 서비스 수요 분석: 댁내기반 원격의료.건강관리서비스를 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to analyze the demand for telemedicine and telehealthmanagement services, which are key elements of home based u-health. The conjoint analysis, which is a conventional method for demand analysis for newly introduced products, is employed, utilizing the survey data on 500 seoul citizens. Further, multivariate probit model is used to estimate the demand. The result shows that the demand for telemedicine services is greater than that of telehealthmanagement services. Further, home-based u-health services will play a role as a complementary for face-to-face medical treatments, rather than a substitute. Meanwhile, the demand for home-based u-health services is found to be very sensitive to price.

멀티플랫폼 환경의 만성 질환자 건강관리를 위한 유헬스 서비스 모델

만성질환자가 증가함에 따라서 유헬스 서비스는 특정 질병의 치료 및 관리에서 서비스 대상자에 대한 행동수정기반의 예방서비스로 진화하고 있다. 기존의 유헬스 서비스는 원격진료나 상담을 통한 서비스나 생체정보의 모니터링만을 제공하여 대사증후군 등 만성질환자를 예방하거나 관리하는 것에는 한계가 있다. 이에 본 논문에서는 만성질환자의 건강관리를 위한 멀티플랫폼 기반의 유헬스 서비스 모델를 제안한다. 멀티플랫폼 기반의 유헬스 서비스는 PC와 스마트폰을 통하여 사용자의 위치와 제한없이 지속적으로 건강 정보 및 식이, 운동에 대한 서비스가 가능하다. 또한 임상정보를 바탕으로 CDS(Clinical Decision Support) 모듈을 활용한 처방 서비스를 의사와 간호사에게 제공한다. 의사는 행동수정 프로그램을 통해 서비스 대상자의 생활패턴을 파악하고 맞춤화된 서비스의 제공이 가능하다. 본 유헬스 서비스 모델은 서비스 대상자에게 멀티플랫폼 환경에서 효과적인 서비스를 제공하여 만성질환자의 건강증진에 기여할 것으로 기대된다. U-health services have been progressed as treatment and management for specific diseases and prevention services for providing the behavior management to customers according to the increase in chronic patients. The conventional U-health services provide required services and bio-information monitoring only through remote diagnoses and counsels and that represent limitations in preventing and managing metabolic syndrome patients like chronic patients. Thus, in this study a multi platform based U-health service model for managing the health of chronic patients is proposed. The multi-platform based U-health service model can provide continuous health information, diet, and exercise services regardless of the location of customers through PCs and smart phones. In addition, it is able to provide prescription services to doctors and nurses using a CDS (Clinical Decision Support) module based on clinical information. Doctors can identify the life pattern of patients through a behavior modification program and provide customized services to patients. The U-health service model provides effective services in multi-platform environments to customers and that will improve the health of chronic patients.

상황인식 기반의 유헬스 환경정보 서비스

건강증진과 고령화 사회를 대비하기 위한 효과적인 문제 해결 방안으로 유헬스 서비스가 주목받고 있다. 현재의 유헬스 서비스는 질병 치료를 목적으로 개발되고 서비스되고 있지만, 더 근본적인 질병 예방과 건강증진을 위해서는 건강과 관련된 환경정보의 제공이 필요하다. 본 논문에서는 상황인식 정보를 반영하는 유헬스 환경정보 서비스를 제안한다. 제안하는 서비스는 사용자 지역의 기상 및 보건 정보를 이용하여 환경정보를 도출하고 건강관리에 이용하여 유헬스 서비스의 수준을 향상시킨다. 상황인식 기반의 유헬스 환경정보 서비스에서는 건강 및 생활 날씨 지수 기반의 식단, 운동 서비스뿐만 아니라 사용자 위치기반의 위험지역에 대한 경고메시지와 원격 응급 서비스를 제공한다. 즉 상황인식을 통하여 사용자에게 일어날 수 있는 이벤트를 감지하고 적절한 서비스를 제공하므로 유헬스 서비스의 만족도와 질을 향상시킬 수 있다. U-health care services have been attracted to effectively solve some problems in promoting health and preparing aging society. Although the recent U-health care services have been developed to treat diseases, it requires environment information related to health for preventing fundamental diseases and for promoting health. In this study, a U-health environment service that reflects context recognition information is proposed. The proposed service draws environment information using local weather and healthcare information in users' residential areas. In the context recognition based U-health environment services, various services are provided to users not only health, living weather based menu, and exercise services but user location based warning messages for dangerous regions and remote emergency services. That is, based on such context recognition, some events that are to be occurred to users are detected and then it will provide proper services. Thus, it improves the satisfaction of U-health services and its service qualities.

U-Health System을 위한 생체신호 모니터링에 관한 연구

u-healthcare 시스템은 센서 네트워크로부터 수집된 대량의 생체신호를 신속히 처리 분석하여 의료진에게 전달함으로써 시간과 장소에 관계없이 환자에게 적절한 의료 서비스를 제공할 수 있다. 현존하는 u-healthcare 시스템들은 단지 환자의 건강 상태만을 모니터링 한다. 본 논문에서는 무선 센서네트워크에 기반한 u-health 모니터링의 프로토타입을 구현하고 검증하였다. 이 시스템은 수집된 생체 신호를 신속히 분석하여 의학적으로 의미 있는 결과를 도출하는 것이 용이하다. 이 모니터링 시스템은 피검자의 이상 데이터 수집 시에만 서비스 제공자에게 데이터를 전송한다. 이러한 방법은 모니터링부와 서비스 제공자사이의 무선 데이터 패킷의 부하를 줄일 수 있다. 실시간 생체 신호 모니터링 시스템을 구현함으로 유-헬스 서비스가 가능하게 되고 의료서비스의 효율성을 향상시킨다. U-healthcare system has an aim to provide reliable and fast medical services for patient regardless of time and space by transmitting to doctors a large quantity of vital signs collected from sensor networks. Existing u-healthcare systems can merely monitoring patients' health status. In this paper, we describe the implementation and validation of a prototype of a u-health monitoring system based on a wireless sensor network. This system is easy to derive physiologically meaningful results by analyzing rapidly vital signs. The monitoring system sends only the abnormal data of examinee to the service provider. This technique can reduces the wireless data packet overload between a monitoring part and service provider. The real-time bio-signal monitoring system makes possible to implement u-health services and improving efficiency of medical services.

Development of Implementation Strategies for u-Health Services Based on the Healthcare Professionals' Experiences

The study develops strategies for implementing ubiquitous healthcare (u-health) based on previous experiences of the healthcare professionals. Qualitative content analysis, one of qualitative research methods, was used on in-depth interviews conducted between July 21 and October 4, 2009, with 11 healthcare professionals including medical doctors and community healthcare specialist nurses who have previously provided u-health services. Four primary subjects were addressed: (1) subjective experiences on the usability, (2) the expectations, (3) the business prospects, and (4) the prerequisites for the success of u-health market. Based on the results of this study, desirable u-health services from the perspective of healthcare professionals were proposed.

유헬스에서 안전한 생체정보전송을 위한 동적인 유효세션기반의 상호인증 프로토콜

무선센서 네트워크를 기반으로 한 유헬스 서비스는 개인의 의료건강정보를 보다 안전하게 전송하고 처리하여야 한다. 대부분의 유헬스 센서기기는 게이트웨이를 통해 전송하는 구조이므로 기기와 게이트웨이간의 신뢰성 문제는 매우 중요하다. 사용자가 센서기기를 휴대하면서 이동하게 되면 게이트웨이의 수신범위 밖으로 멀어지므로 데이터 전송이 불가하다. 이 틈을 이용한 비인가 센서기기의 데이터 무결성 침해가 발생할 수 있다. 뿐만 아니라 비인증 게이트웨이가 허가받지 않고 생체정보를 갈취할 가능성도 있다. 이경우도 데이터 기밀성 침해문제가 발생된다. 따라서 유헬스 센서기기와 게이트웨이 간에는 응용레벨에서의 상호인증이 반드시 필요하다. 기기와 게이트웨이간의 어플리케이션 전송세션을 세분화하고 각 세션을 주기적으로 갱신하면 침해를 차단하는 효과가 있다. 그러나 이 과정에서의 인증을 위한 전송오버헤드를 최소화하려면 생체정보의 측정주기에 따른 동적인 유효 세션기법이 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 이 기법을 제안하였고 3가지 실험을 통해 상호인증 성공결과를 확인하였다. All medical information over sensor networks need to transmit and process securely in the u-Health services. The reliability of transmission between u-Health medical sensor devices and gateway is very important issue. When the user moves to other place with u-Health devices, its signal strength is going down and is far from the coverage of gateway. In this case, Malicious user can be carried out an intrusion under the situation. And also rogue gateway can be tried to steal medical information. Therefore, it needs mutual authentication between sensor devices and gateway. In this paper, we design a mutual authentication protocol which divided sessions from an authenticated session are updated periodically. And in order to reduce the traffic overhead for session authentication, we also introduce dynamic session management according to sampling rate of medical sensor type. In order to verify this, we implemented the programs for the test-bed, and got an overall success from three types of experiment.

U-Health Service for Managing Chronic Disease: A Case Study on Managing Metabolic Syndrome in a Health Center in South Korea

ObjectivesWe were to analyze the effect of managing metabolic syndrome using a u-health service in a health center.MethodsWe collected biometric data from 316 subjects living in a county (gun) in South Korea before and after the introduction of uhealth services in 2010. Analysis was done by contingency table using SPSS and latent growth model using AMOS.ResultsWe found that regional u-health services affected instance of metabolic syndrome. Further, biometrics and health behavior improved. After six months of u-health services, the number of subjects with three or more factors for metabolic syndrome decreased by 62.5%; 63.3% of regular drinkers stopped drinking; 83.3% of subjects who rarely exercised began to exercise twice a week or more; and 60.9% of smokers stopped smoking.ConclusionsU-health services can change health behavior and biometrics to manage metabolic syndrome in rural areas. The usefulness of u-health services is discussed.