International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications最新文献

Purpose: In relation to this research, only a few studies have been carried out around the world. However, in Saudi Arabia, there have been no investigations into this subject. In this sense, the objective of this study was to investigate the physicians' attitudes towards the use of social media for professional purposes in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 235 physicians from different regions of Saudi Arabia. The data were collected by means of a survey. The survey questionnaire was distributed using the WhatsApp application. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results.

Results: The most common social media used by the respondents was Facebook, and the majority of the participants agreed that social media improved their knowledge and skills. However, most of the participants did not interact with patients using these tools, did not feel comfortable conducting an online consultation, and believed that social media affected the choice of the healthcare provider. Similarly, 30.6% of the respondents opined that it is not appropriate to search online information about patients, and 44.3% of them considered that patients would not trust the medical advice if a physician obtained the information from a website.

Conclusion: The results showed that the majority of the respondents considered that social media improved the knowledge and abilities of physicians. In addition, the respondents reflected that there were ethical issues that must be taken into account when using social media and more than half of them did not interact with their patients employing these tools. The outcomes of this research will help to develop programs directed at the physicians in Saudi Arabia to enhance their knowledge, professional skills, medicine practice, patient-doctor interaction, and handle the risks involved in the use of social media.

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of disability and requires continued care after hospital discharge. Mobile-based interventions are suitable to reduce the cost of stroke rehabilitation and facilitate self-management among stroke survivors. However, before attempting to use mobile-based home exercise program, it is crucial to recognize the readiness of stroke survivors and their caregivers to opt for such interventions.

Objective: To assess the acceptability and attitude towards a mobile-based home exercise program among stroke survivors and their primary caregivers.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 102 participants to understand their attitude and acceptability towards mobile-based home exercise program. A validated 10-item questionnaire was adapted for the study. The questions which assessed the attitude were rated on a three-point Likert scale, with three denoting agree and one denoting disagree. The acceptability was assessed by their willingness to opt for a mobile-based home program services. A Chi-square analysis and cross-tabulation were performed to test differences between caregivers and patients. A logistic regression was performed to determine the effects of age, gender, and mobile phone on acceptability.

Results: Ninety-two percent of caregivers and 90% of patients showed willingness to opt for mobile-based intervention. Majority of the participants showed a positive attitude towards this mode of treatment. There was no difference in the attitude noted among caregivers and patients (p>0.05) towards mobile-based intervention.

Conclusion: The stroke survivors and caregivers welcomed the concept of mobile-based home exercise program even in a low-resource settings, but further studies to understand treatment and cost-effectiveness of this technology among the stroke survivors would lead to better implementation.

Purpose: This study describes the development of an attachment for a smart tablet to stream live video information of an eye examination through the slit lamp.

Methods: A tablet attachment was developed that enables the live streaming of video from the slit lamp from the rural vision centers of the LVPEI network. A video streaming solution like Skype Lite was used to transmit the same. The eyeSmart app was utilized for the documentation of the clinical information of the patients.

Results: A tablet attachment of eyeSmart Cyclops was developed and piloted in 3 vision centers of the LVPEI network.

Conclusion: The use of real-time video transmission illustrates a novel teleophthalmology solution in low resource settings to screen rural populations. The ability to transmit live video enables gathering more information than static images.

It is a well-known statistic that the percentage of our older adult population will globally surpass the other age groups. A majority of the elderly would still prefer to keep an active life style. In support of this life style, various monitoring systems are being designed and deployed to have a seamless integration with the daily living activities of the older adults while preserving various levels of their privacy. Motion tracking is one of these health monitoring systems. When properly designed, deployed, integrated, and analyzed, they can be used to assist in determining some onsets of anomalies in the health of elderly at various levels of their Movements and Activities of Daily Living (MADL). This paper explores how the framework of the PageRank algorithm can be extended for monitoring the global movement patterns of older adults at their place of residence. Through utilization of an existing dataset, the paper shows how the movement patterns between various rooms can be represented as a directed graph with weighted edges. To demonstrate how PageRank can be utilized, a base graph representing a normal pattern can be defined as what can be used for further anomaly detection (e.g., at some instances of observation the measured movement pattern deviates from what is previously defined as a normal pattern). It is shown how the PageRank algorithm can detect simulated change in the pattern of motion when compared with the base-line normal pattern. This feature can offer a practical approach for detecting anomalies in movement patterns associated with older adults in their own place of residence and in support of aging in place paradigm.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2017/9185686.].

New technologies are increasingly evaluated for use within the clinical practice to monitor patients' medical and lifestyle data. This development could contribute to a more personalized approach to patient care and potentially improve health outcomes. To date, patient perspective on this development has mostly been neglected in the literature. Hence, this study aims to shed more light on the patient perspective on health data privacy and management. Focus groups with cardiac patients were done at the Elizabeth TweeSteden Ziekenhuis (ETZ) in the Netherlands as part of the DoCHANGE project. The focus groups were conducted using a semistructured protocol which was organized around three themes: privacy regulations, data storage, and transparency and privacy management. Five focus groups with a total of 23 patients were conducted. The majority of the patients preferred to have access to their medical data; however, the knowledge on who has access to data was limited. Patients indicated that they do not want to share their medical data with health insurance companies or the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, most patients do not see the added value of supplementing their medical dossier with lifestyle data. Current findings showed patients prefer access to and control over own data but that the knowledge concerning data privacy and management is limited. Sharing of non-medical health data (e.g.,, physical activity) was considered unnecessary. Future studies should address patient preferences and develop infrastructure which facilitates medical data access for patients.

Introduction: Social media has a potential to bring about major changes in the healthcare system.

Objective: To find out the pattern of use of social media among healthcare professionals (HCPs) and perception, facilitators, and barriers of using social media, to translate evidence into clinical practice.

Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 196 HCPs of institutions attached to a university using a self-administered questionnaire.

Result: 97.3% used social media; however, only 63.4% used it for research. YouTube was the most preferred media. Majority of people believed that social media enables wide range of evidence over the shorter span of time, poses a threat to privacy, and cannot replace face to face interaction. Perceived barriers were the privacy concern, unprofessional behavior, lack of reliability, and information overload.

Conclusion: There is a need for the development of appropriate guidelines for sharing the research output among various stakeholders using social media.

Background: This article examines personnel and patient experiences of videoconferencing (VC) trials on tablet computers between oncology certified nurses (OCNs) and patients with cancer who live at home. The study points to organizational pitfalls during the introduction process. In many different arenas, the use of VC has increased recently owing to improved Internet access and capacity. This creates new opportunities for contact between patients living at home and their nurses. Video conferencing presupposes knowledge about Internet access, training, and usability of technological equipment. The aim of this pilot study was to illuminate patients' and nurses' experiences of the technical functionality, usability, and training of tablet use in VC in primary cancer care. The results point to the drawbacks concerning the introduction of VC.

Method: A pilot study with an explorative design was used to describe patients' and OCNs' experiences of technical functionality and usability of VC on tablet computers. After a three-month trial, data were gathered, focusing on both patients' and nurses' perspectives. Individual interviews with four female OCNs, aged 32-65 (mean 46), and six patients with cancer, two men and four women aged 49-78 (mean 69), were content-analyzed.

Results: The analysis revealed two main categories: network connectivity and tablet usability and training and educational pitfalls.

Conclusion: When planning VC implementation, the organizational leadership should consider network access and stability, as well as individualized VC training on tablets. Ensuring patient safety should also be a priority. Further research should provide knowledge of technological and educational pitfalls, and possible implications of VC on the care quality of nursing.