International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications最新文献

Background: Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) represent a growing platform for the expansion of healthcare related services, but there is little information on how generational differences might account for distinct patterns of use and interest for ICTs. Our study aims to achieve a better understanding on how generational cohorts might influence the use and preferences for ICTs among patients with obstructive lung diseases in Latin America.

Materials and methods: We conducted an anonymous cross-sectional survey-based study, involving 968 patients with obstructive lung diseases (OLD) in Latin America. Patients rated their frequency of use and preferences of ICTs through a modified version of the Michigan Questionnaire. Chi-square test for association and adjusted regression analyses were performed.

Results: Of all, 63.6% of participants had Internet access. Younger generations, in particular Generation Z and Millennials, had the highest rate of Internet access and smartphone ownership, as well as of overall frequency of ICT use. Web-based Internet was found to be the main source to seek information about the disease (36.9%) across all generational cohorts. Generation Z and Millennials presented the highest odds to be interested in using Twitter (OR 31.79 and 8.86) for receiving health-related information, and email (OR 4.87 and 4.86) as the preferred way to ask physicians information related to their disease through ICTs.

Conclusion: Generational cohorts influence the use and preferences for ICTs among patients with obstructive lung diseases. Younger generational cohorts were associated with higher access to the Internet and smartphone ownership, as well as higher interest for using ICTs to receive and ask for health-related information.

Smart clothing that can measure electrocardiogram (ECG) signals and monitor the health status of people meets the needs of our increasingly aging society. However, the conventional measurement of ECG signals is complicated and its electrodes can cause irritation to the skin, which makes the conventional measurement method unsuitable for applications in smart clothing. In this paper, a novel wearable measurement of ECG signals is proposed. There are only three ECG textile electrodes knitted into the fabric of smart clothing. The acquired ECG signals can be transmitted to a smartphone via Bluetooth, and they can also be sent out to a PC terminal by a smartphone via WiFi or Internet. To get more significant ECG signals, the ECG differential signal between two electrodes is calculated based on a spherical volume conductor model, and the best positions on the surface of a human body for two textile electrodes to measure ECG signals are simulated by using the body-surface potential mapping (BSPM) data. The results show that position 12 in the lower right and position 11 in the upper left of the human body are the best for the two electrodes to measure ECG signals, and the presented wearable measurement can obtain good performance when one person is under the conditions of sleeping and jogging.

Purpose: The study aims to describe a novel method of utilization of the eyeSmart EMR (electronic medical record) app. It describes the demographic distribution, clinical presentation, query requested by the vision technician, and management advised to the patients by using "eyeSmart EMR" app from the vision centers located across a three-tier eye care network in India.

Methods: This is a retrospective review of all patients who required a tele-ophthalmology consultation from January 2017 to August 2018. The demographic, clinical details, and the impact of teleophthalmology using eyeSmart app, in the vision centers of a three-tier eye care network, was analyzed in detail.

Results: A total of 15,001 tele-ophthalmology consults were included which is from January 2017 to August 2018. The mean age was 38 ± 19 years and male to female ratio was 1 : 2. Video calls were performed for 6191 (41.27%) consults and the impact was measured. Additional clinical information was received in 65.61% consults through video call. Medical management was advised in 47.07% of patients and 30.30% were referred to higher centers for medical intervention and 0.59% were referred for surgical intervention, 16.23% were prescribed glasses. No intervention required for 0.69% of cases. Hence nil intervention was advised.

Conclusion: The combination of using tablet and video calls with the help of eyeSmart EMR app is a novel method in teleophthalmology. It helps in connecting the patients at rural areas and the ophthalmologists in higher centers. The use of technology plays a vital role in the appropriate medical management of the patient.

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.