Use Of Personal Digital Assistants Research Articles

Development of a prototype for a mobile application to monitor hypertension from ECG data

Today, the use of personal digital assistants is increasing, especially due to the development of mobile devices. Especially at the medical level, their applications have grown a lot. Health cannot be left behind in this new digital age in using these new technologies. Given that the heart is the main organ of the cardiovascular system and is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body, it is not surprising that heart disease is the leading cause of death in Asian and Arabic countries, according to international health organizations operating under the World Health Organization. The average individual has no access to a device for home use and must rely on going to the doctor for a consultation and having to undergo the necessary procedure using pricy, specialized equipment. In this project, hardware and software were designed to produce a prototype device that can be purchased for a reasonable price, weighs little, and can be handled easily, enabling people to monitor their heart’s activity from the comfort of their homes. The core of the prototype is an AD8232 integrated circuit mounted on a SparkFun single-lead heart rate monitor-AD8232 card. When used with an Arduino card, serial communication with a computer, or Bluetooth with a smart device, this integrated circuit displays the graph and the person’s heart rate in beats per minute. The Android Studio platform was used to create the mobile app as well as the graphical personal computer version. 19 randomly chosen test volunteers’ heart rates and graphs were compared to the relevant ages listed in the literature.

Nurses' Perceptions of Using Personal Digital Assistants in Tertiary Hospitals.

Personal digital assistants can perform multiple functions such as Internet search, documentation, calculating, and barcode scanning. This study examined nurses' perceptions of personal digital assistants used as a barcode scanner for medication administration, blood transfusions, and blood collection. A total of 236 nurses participated in the survey using the instrument developed by the researchers. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, and the Scheffe test. Written responses to the advantages and drawbacks of using personal digital assistants were categorized by meaning. The results showed that the nurses perceived more drawbacks than advantages in using personal digital assistants because of nonworking barcodes, prescription practice requiring additional scanning, poor interfacing between personal digital assistants and the EMR, and frequent Wi-Fi disconnection. The drawbacks resulted in delays in nursing workflow for patient care. Therefore, increasing the availability of barcode scanning for all medications applicable to personal digital assistant use, redesigning the practice of current prescriptions to eliminate additional scanning, and seamless interfacing between personal digital assistants and EMRs should be considered. This enables the nurses to use personal digital assistants more efficiently and effectively for patient care.

Nurses' Perceptions of Using Personal Digital Assistants in Tertiary Hospitals.

Personal digital assistants can perform multiple functions such as Internet search, documentation, calculating, and barcode scanning. This study examined nurses' perceptions of personal digital assistants used as a barcode scanner for medication administration, blood transfusions, and blood collection. A total of 236 nurses participated in the survey using the instrument developed by the researchers. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, and the Scheffe test. Written responses to the advantages and drawbacks of using personal digital assistants were categorized by meaning. The results showed that the nurses perceived more drawbacks than advantages in using personal digital assistants because of nonworking barcodes, prescription practice requiring additional scanning, poor interfacing between personal digital assistants and the EMR, and frequent Wi-Fi disconnection. The drawbacks resulted in delays in nursing workflow for patient care. Therefore, increasing the availability of barcode scanning for all medications applicable to personal digital assistant use, redesigning the practice of current prescriptions to eliminate additional scanning, and seamless interfacing between personal digital assistants and EMRs should be considered. This enables the nurses to use personal digital assistants more efficiently and effectively for patient care.

Patient’s Perception about use of Personal Digital Assistants/ Smart Phones by Physiotherapists

Background: Mobile phone is the need of present era in almost all fields of life. The demand of mobile phone has been increased thousand times because of emergence of smartphone. A smartphone works efficiently that it replaced computer systems and much more. Methodology: This study was a cross-sectional survey. It was completed in 4 months of duration. Data was collected from Public and private clinical setups having facility of outdoor physiotherapy services. Data was collected from physiotherapy patients. Both male and female physiotherapy patients aged between 15 to 70 were included in this study. Patients with cognitive impairments and not willing to participate or signing a consent were excluded from this study. Nonprobability Convenient sampling technique was used. The questionnaire has been adopted from previous literature. (11) Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0). Data was analyzed in way that Numbers and percentages was calculated for demographics. Mean, standard deviation was calculated for total scores and continuous variables. Results: The result shows that 38.7% of the participants were male and 61.3% of the participants were females. The result shows education of the participants as 11.3% under metric, 10.7 % metric, 28.7% intermediate, 34% Bachelors, 12% Masters and 3.3% higher respectively. Moreover, the results of current study shows that 14.7% said no, 16% said don’t know and 69.3% said yes about knowledge of performance of your doctor on this device: Information look up. The result shows that 19.3% said no, 14% said don’t know and 66.7% said yes about knowledge of performance of your doctor on this device: Look up information about how to treat an illness. Conclusion: There found a moderate to high level of positive perception regarding use of personal digital assistants/ smart phones by physiotherapists. Furthermore, there found a direct correlation between knowledge and perception of smart devices i.e., higher knowledge, more positive the perception found. Keywords: Patient’s Perception, Physiotherapy Patients, Personal Digital Assistants, Smart Phones.

The role of technology in assessment, documentation, and tracking of clinical competencies in radiography education

The role of technology in assessment, documentation, and tracking of clinical competencies in radiography education

The Promotion of Eating Behaviour Change through Digital Interventions.

Diet-related chronic disease is a global health epidemic giving rise to a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. With the rise of the digital revolution, there has been increased interest in using digital technology for eating behavioural change as a mean of diet-related chronic disease prevention. However, evidence on digital dietary behaviour change is relatively scarce. To address this problem, this review considers the digital interventions currently being used in dietary behaviour change studies. A literature search was conducted in databases like PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Medline, and PsycInfo. Among 119 articles screened, 15 were selected for the study as they met all the inclusion criteria according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) search strategy. Four primary digital intervention methods were noted: use of personal digital assistants, use of the internet as an educational tool, use of video games and use of mobile phone applications. The efficiency of all the interventions increased when coupled with tailored feedback and counselling. It was established that the scalable and sustainable properties of digital interventions have the potential to bring about adequate changes in the eating behaviour of individuals. Further research should concentrate on the appropriate personalisation of the interventions, according to the requirements of the individuals, and proper integration of behaviour change techniques to motivate long-term adherence.

FROM ROBO-SAPIENS TO ROBO-LUDENS: RE-THINKING FUTURE LEARNING WITH SMART PERSONAL DIGITAL PLAYMATES

This systematic review investigates two foci: identifying the ongoing status of smart personal digital assistants in educational contexts and the possible relationship between smart personal digital assistants and gamification elements. This relationship is expressed in almost two new figurative terms, namely, robo-sapiens and robo-ludens and the present study lays on the foundations of these terms. Therefore, this paper presents a holistic approach for the review and synthesis of the previous literature. The data of the study were gathered based on the findings reported in the related research articles, conference papers, dissertations, book chapters and project reports by focusing on 9 sets of generic keywords. As a part of this study, smart personal digital assistants in learning processes were scanned purposively in the lens of gamification. To this end, a two step inclusion criteria was implemented to review the studies of the research scope. Content analysis was the main method used for data analysis. The research findings revealed the most significant fields for the use of smart personal digital assistants are dominantly e-learning and special education. The research also discusses game-related components in smart personal digital assistant use in edu-centric purposes.

Students’ Expectations from Mobile Devices for Mobile Learning

Mobile devices are becoming ever more widely available, with growing functionality, giving students access to educational material anytime and anywhere. Thus, mobile devices have become more attractive for education. However, owing to the nature of mobile devices, such as small screen size, it poses number of challenges to create a usable learning environment. Therefore, it becomes noteworthy to explore usability of these devices and the students' expectations. The present empirical study regarding the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) aimed to explore expectations of students from mobile devices in order to support mobile learning. Data was collected from 30 university students through pre and post interviews while students were conducting a set of e-learning actions, such as uploading files, communicating and acquiring course contents, on a mobile device. With the analyses of interviews using constant comparative approach, expectations of the students were classified into 11 categories which are related to interaction and usability.

Nurses' satisfaction with use of a personal digital assistants with a mobile nursing information system in China.

Personal digital assistants, technology with various functions, have been applied in international clinical practice. Great benefits in reducing medical errors and enhancing the efficiency of clinical work have been achieved, but little research has investigated nurses' satisfaction with the use of personal digital assistants. To investigate nurses' satisfaction with use of personal digital assistants, and to explore the predictors of this. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. We conducted a cross-sectional survey targeting nurses who used personal digital assistants in a comprehensive tertiary hospital in Beijing. A total of 383 nurses were recruited in this survey in 2015. The total score of nurses' satisfaction with use of personal digital assistants was 238.91 (SD 39.25). Nurses were less satisfied with the function of documentation, compared with the function of administering medical orders. The time length of using personal digital assistants, academic degree, and different departments predicted nurses' satisfaction towards personal digital assistant use (all P<0.05). Nurses were satisfied with the accuracy of administering medical orders and the safety of recording data. The stability of the wireless network and efficiency related to nursing work were less promising. To some extent, nurses with higher education and longer working time with personal digital assistants were more satisfied with them.

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) for psychiatrists

The use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), also known as palmtop or handheld computers, is becoming increasingly common in all branches of medicine. They are essentially small, mobile computers that, at the most basic level, enable you to manage your appointments, contact lists and other

Identifying and quantifying weaknesses in the Closed Loop Medication Management System in reducing medication errors using a direct observational approach at an academic medical centre

AbstractBackgroundClosed Loop Medication Management System (CLMMS) is an end‐to‐end medication delivery system comprising seamless interfaces, independent verification processes and information feedback to improve safety and quality.AimFollowing implementation of a CLMMS at an academic medical centre in Singapore, this study was conducted to identify any safety issues and areas for quality improvement.MethodA direct observational study was conducted in the wards, inpatient pharmacy and unit‐dose satellite pharmacy. The numbers and types of medication errors in prescribing, supply and administration were observed and recorded to calculate the error rate. Events that have the potential to cause errors were also observed.ResultsThe prescribing error rate was 1.3% and the most common prescribing error was dose error. Supply error rate was 0.7% in which labelling error occurred most frequently. Workflow issues were the most common occurrences that could potentially cause prescribing and supply errors. The administration error rate was 7.3%, and wrong drug preparation technique was most commonly seen. Improper procedure in the use of personal digital assistant was the most common event that could potentially lead to an administration error.ConclusionThis study was instrumental in identifying important medication safety gaps in order to improve the inpatient CLMMS. Although a failure mode and effects analysis was performed prior to implementation of the system, unintended error types may still be introduced. Hence a post‐implementation audit is necessary to address such issues to ensure that the CLMMS objective of improving medication safety is achieved.

Use of personal digital assistants to detect healthcare-associated infections in a neonatal intensive care unit in Egypt.

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) used in electronic laboratory-based surveillance are a promising alternative to conventional surveillance to detect healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The aim of the study was to monitor, detect, and analyze HAIs using PDAs in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In this descriptive study, 1,053 neonates admitted to the NICU in the obstetrics and gynecology ward at the Cairo University hospital were included and evaluated for HAIs by collecting data using PDAs programmed by Naval Medical Research Unit 3, Cairo, with the definitions for HAIs provided by the National Healthcare Safety Network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Case records were reviewed three times a week over 19 months, from March 2012 to September 2013. Of 124 suspected episodes of infection recorded in PDAs, 89 confirmed episodes of infection were identified. HAI and NICU infection rates were 7.4 and 2.72/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Primary bloodstream infection was detected in 81 episodes and pneumonia in 8 episodes. The majority of infections (62%) were acquired in the ward before NICU admission. Klebsiella spp. was isolated most frequently (42%), followed by coagulase-negative Staphylococci (31%). This study is the first to report the use of PDAs in surveillance to detect HAIs in the NICU in our hospital. The majority of infections were acquired at the obstetric care department, indicating the importance of implementing rigorous prevention and control programs and a more detailed surveillance to identify other risk factors for infections.

The use of medical and drug information software programs for personal digital assistants among pharmacy students in a Malaysian pharmacy school

BackgroundThe use of medical and drug information software programs for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) is increasing. The technological advances in recent years may have prompted this increase. Many studies have been conducted in developed countries about the use of PDAs among health care professionals and medical and pharmacy students, but similar studies in developing countries are lacking. ObjectivesTo explore the use of medical software programs for PDA among pharmacy students in their clinical clerkships as well as barriers and facilitators to PDA use. MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional, exploratory study was conducted. A 56-item face- and content-validated, self-administered, and anonymous questionnaire was distributed to the students in the third and fourth years of a pharmacy program at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). ResultsThe response rate was 84.8%. The majority of respondents reported using PDAs (64.1%) and medical/drug information software programs for PDAs (61.5%). Android was the operating system used by the majority of PDAs users (87.5%), and free download websites were the most used source for these programs (93.1%). Micromedex was the most commonly used software (66.7%). PDA cost is the major barrier to use (chosen as barrier by 77.8% of the non-users). ConclusionPharmacy students use medical software programs for PDAs for many clinical tasks and the devices were perceived positively by students who do not use PDAs. The acquisition of a PDA is the major determinant of medical software PDA programs use because of the availability of free versions of these software programs.

Cloud based VoIP Application in Aircraft Data Networks

There has been a high increase in air traffic for the past ten years and to attract more customers many in-flight facilities are introduced by the carriers. These include Video-OnDemand, use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) etc. To provide these facilities the VoIP technology is used more often. But maintaining VoIP infrastructure along with the Aircraft Data Network equipment’s will be more cumbersome for the carriers, along with the added infrastructure cost. Thus an improvised architecture has been proposed which helps carriers provide these facilities to the customers in a cost effective and reliable manner. Most of the aircraft communications to the ground rely on satellite for providing these services to the customers. The proposed method uses satellite communication along with cloud based VoIP to provide an efficient quality of service to the passengers. The ground stations used for satellite communication would be connected to a high speed Storage Area Network, to which the cloud network on which the VoIP application is running is also connected. So that whenever a passenger on the flight sends a message/data to the VoIP application first it would be send to the ground stations via the satellite which is then accessed through the SAN server, thus in turn providing faster, reliable and efficient communication to the customers.

Reducing the need for personal supports among workers with autism using an iPod Touch as an assistive technology: delayed randomized control trial.

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are versatile task organizers that hold promise as assistive technologies for people with cognitive-behavioral challenges. This delayed randomized controlled trial compared two groups of adult workers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to determine whether the use of an Apple iPod Touch PDA as a vocational support improves work performance and reduces personal support needs on the job. Baseline data were collected on 50 adults with ASD who were beginning a vocational placement supported by a job coach. Participants were randomized to receive training in the use of a PDA as a vocational aid upon starting their job or after working 12weeks without PDA support. Workers who received PDA training at the beginning of their job placement required significantly less hours of job coaching support (p=0.013) during their first 12weeks on the job than those who had not yet received the intervention. Functional performance between the two groups was not significantly different. The significant difference in hours of job coaching support persisted during the subsequent 12weeks, in which both groups used a PDA (p=0.017).

PDA survey of medical residents: e-books before e-mail

Introduction - Increasingly, database vendors are allowing downloads of their products to personal digital as- sistants (PDAs). The Hospital Library at Capital Health in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has the opportunity to provide PDA versions of resources to our users. The purpose of this survey is to find out the current environment of PDA use among the medical residents as a basis for developing library training and support for this technology. Question -A re medical residents using PDAs, and if yes, what type of PDA are they using, what experience do they have using them, how do they think they will use them in a clinical setting, and what products do they think they will find valuable in their practice? Methods - A Web-based survey was developed using PollDaddy software. A message was sent to all the medical residents on rotation at Capital Health on 12 November 2008; the survey closed 12 December 2008. Setting - The survey was developed by the Health Sciences Library of Capital Health. Capital Health is an academic health centre in Nova Scotia, Canada. The medical residents are affiliated with Dalhousie University Medical School. Participants - The participants were medical residents currently working in Capital Health hospitals. There were 55 re- spondents. Results - The majority of respondents own a PDA and have more than 1 year of experience using the de- vice. They use PDAs to look up drug information, for messaging, and to consult e-books. More than 90% of those surveyed use PDAs in their clinical practice. The Palm platform is used by 64% of respondents while the iPhone is used by 24%. Conclusion - Medical residents are using PDAs with a preference for the Palm platform. They are used for clinical decision making, and 61 different sources were listed as currently used by the medical residents. Implica- tions for the library are to provide training for the Palm and to concentrate on resource-specific training, rather than basic training on how to use a PDA. Limitations - There are approximately 300 medical residents on rotation at any one time. We received 55 responses. We realized, too late, that people could select only one item for question 7 (Which resources do you use?). However, most respondents provided lists of titles of PDA resources for question 8.

Use of handheld computers in clinical practice: a systematic review

BackgroundMany healthcare professionals use smartphones and tablets to inform patient care. Contemporary research suggests that handheld computers may support aspects of clinical diagnosis and management. This systematic review was designed to synthesise high quality evidence to answer the question; Does healthcare professionals’ use of handheld computers improve their access to information and support clinical decision making at the point of care?MethodsA detailed search was conducted using Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Science and Social Science Citation Indices since 2001. Interventions promoting healthcare professionals seeking information or making clinical decisions using handheld computers were included. Classroom learning and the use of laptop computers were excluded. Two authors independently selected studies, assessed quality using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and extracted data. High levels of data heterogeneity negated statistical synthesis. Instead, evidence for effectiveness was summarised narratively, according to each study’s aim for assessing the impact of handheld computer use.ResultsWe included seven randomised trials investigating medical or nursing staffs’ use of Personal Digital Assistants. Effectiveness was demonstrated across three distinct functions that emerged from the data: accessing information for clinical knowledge, adherence to guidelines and diagnostic decision making. When healthcare professionals used handheld computers to access clinical information, their knowledge improved significantly more than peers who used paper resources. When clinical guideline recommendations were presented on handheld computers, clinicians made significantly safer prescribing decisions and adhered more closely to recommendations than peers using paper resources. Finally, healthcare professionals made significantly more appropriate diagnostic decisions using clinical decision making tools on handheld computers compared to colleagues who did not have access to these tools. For these clinical decisions, the numbers need to test/screen were all less than 11.ConclusionHealthcare professionals’ use of handheld computers may improve their information seeking, adherence to guidelines and clinical decision making. Handheld computers can provide real time access to and analysis of clinical information. The integration of clinical decision support systems within handheld computers offers clinicians the highest level of synthesised evidence at the point of care. Future research is needed to replicate these early results and to identify beneficial clinical outcomes.

Long-term maintenance of smartphone and PDA use in individuals with moderate to severe memory impairment

In an earlier paper we described a structured, theory-driven training programme which was administered to 10 individuals with moderate-to-severe memory impairment. All individuals received an errorless-fading-of-cues protocol in the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) or smartphones (Svoboda, Richards, Leach, & Mertens, 2012) and demonstrated generalisation of acquired skills to day-to-day memory challenges. Maintenance of intervention gains over the long-term is another indicator of successful generalisation. Here we present the maintenance of device use in the same group of individuals 12 to 19 months after programme completion. A within-subject, ABABB multi-case experimental design was used to evaluate the impact of PDA or smartphone use on day-to-day memory functioning at baseline, immediately post-intervention, at return to baseline, and at short-term and long-term follow-up. Results presented here focus predominantly on long-term follow-up. All 10 individuals showed maintenance of gains in day-to-day functioning as quantified across several ecologically valid questionnaire and task-based measures. This was corroborated by family members with whom six of the participants resided. This study further demonstrates the programme's clinical effectiveness in enabling individuals with moderate-to-severe memory impairment to function more independently and with greater confidence up to 19 months following programme completion.

OHP-031 The use of handheld devices among healthcare staff and students in a teaching hospital in Qatar

BackgroundHand-held computers, also commonly known as personal digital assistants (PDAs) were originally designed as personal organisers. Nowadays, many healthcare professionals use PDAs in their clinical work, accessing medicines databases, guidelines...

大学病院および薬局薬剤師業務における携帯情報端末（PDA）の使用実態調査

The continual development of mobile technology and spread of mobile devices have led to the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) in medical fields. In this report, we describe the applications of PDAs, such as smartphones, in pharmaceutical practice.Participants included pharmacists in university hospitals (n = 121), community pharmacies (n = 100), and 6th-year pharmacy students (n = 166) who had already successfully completed their clinical rotations. We conducted questionnaires regarding PDA use frequency and interest in future PDA use, which were evaluated using 4-point scales. These two variables were compared statistically between the university hospital pharmacists and community pharmacists. The data from the pharmacy students were analyzed separately using descriptive statistics.For university hospital pharmacists, the top use for PDAs was as a personal scheduler; for community pharmacists, it was as a dispensing error prevention system. Most university hospital pharmacists reported high interest in future PDA use, mainly for obtaining practice guidelines and obtaining package insert information, while community pharmacists would use PDAs to obtain package insert information. For pharmacy students, PDAs were most often used to obtain package insert information; furthermore, pharmacy students showed high interest in future PDA use during hospital and pharmacy clinical rotations.As six interests regarding the use of PDAs in future pharmaceutical practice differed between the university hospital and community pharmacists (P < 0.05), PDA software applications should be tailored for each medical setting.