Internet of things-assisted intelligent monitoring model to analyze the physical health condition

Feasibility and outcomes of a community-based, mobile health system-monitored lifestyle intervention in chronic stroke: A pilot study

BACKGROUND

People with disabilities face challenges in daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic, including limited access to care, exposure to lifestyle-related diseases, and difficulties in regular exercise. Therefore, it is important to establish health safety nets using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in communities.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to develop an m-Health-based personalized lifestyle intervention algorithm targeting high-risk groups of lifestyle-related diseases (including hypertension, diabetes, and obesity) among people with hemiplegic disabilities, and to verify its feasibility.

METHODS

Six people at a high risk of lifestyle-related diseases participated in an 8-week lifestyle intervention using a wearable device and the S-Health program. The self-health management areas included walking, moderate-intensity exercise, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, diet, calorie intake, heart rate, sobriety, no smoking. Health, physical, psychological, and social changes were measured before and after the study.

RESULTS

The intervention had a positive impact on the participants' health, with statistically significant differences found in fasting blood glucose, highest systolic blood pressure, grip strength, and motor function assessment. Quality of life, health-related quality of life, and self-efficacy improved post-intervention.

CONCLUSION

Our findings can be used as preliminary evidence for establishing m-Health-based health safety net systems for people with disabilities who live in communities.

Clinical value of CT imaging features in the diagnosis of acute and chronic pancreatitis: A retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Recurrent acute pancreatitis is a common acute abdominal disease in surgery.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the radiographic features of pancreatic computed tomography (CT) imaging in the diagnosis of acute and chronic pancreatitis.

METHODS

48 pancreatitis patients who met the criteria were selected in this retrospective study from 2010 to 2019. Each diagnosis was evaluated as functional abdominal pain, recurrent acute pancreatitis, or chronic pancreatitis. All clinical data were collected from the patient's medical records. 54 radiological features were extracted from each region of interest in outline the pancreas and divided into five categories: first order statistics, the gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), the gray level run-length matrix (GLRLM), the neighborhood gray level difference matrix (NGTDM), and morphological features by the MATLAB program.

RESULTS

Of the 48 patients, 16 had functional abdominal pain (33.3%), 18 had recurrent acute pancreatitis (37.5%), and 14 had chronic pancreatitis (29.2%). In the univariate analysis, nine radiological features, eight GLCM features and one NGTDM feature were significantly different between groups. Nine radiological characteristics had important reference values with AUC values ranging from 0.73-0.91.

CONCLUSION

Nine radiographic features of CT imaging demonstrate good evaluation efficiency in the diagnosis of pancreatitis and can distinguish patients with functional abdominal pain, recurrent acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancreatitis.

The development and impact of an app for a smart drug interaction reminder system

BACKGROUND

Improved access to media and medical knowledge has elicited stronger public health awareness.

OBJECTIVE

This study developed a smart drug interaction reminder system for patients to increase knowledge and reduce nurse workload.

METHODS

This study used a single-group pre-test/post-test design and applied mining techniques to analyze the weight and probability of interaction among various medicines. Data were collected from 258 participants at a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan using convenience sampling. An app was used to give patients real-time feedback to obtain access to information and remind them of their health issues. In addition to guiding the patients on medications, this app measured the nurses' work satisfaction and patients' knowledge of drug interaction.

RESULTS

The results indicate that using information technology products to assist the app's real-time feedback system promoted nurses' work satisfaction, improved their health education skills, and helped patients to better understand drug interactions.

CONCLUSION

Using information technology to provide patients with real-time inquiring functions has a significant effect on nurses' load reduction. Thus, smart drug interaction reminder system apps can be considered suitable nursing health education tools and the SDINRS app can be integrated into quantitative structure-activity relationship intelligence in the future.

Reflections on the strategy of hospital development based on the characteristics of new hospitals

BACKGROUND

The disease spectrum is constantly changing, meaning patients' medical characteristics are complex and varied, and hospital operations are facing great challenges.

OBJECTIVE

To provide a basis for formulating relevant policies, promoting the continuous improvement of medical quality, improving the efficiency of medical services and proposing corresponding countermeasures.

METHODS

Information on the first page of the medical cases of patients discharged from 2020-2021 in the case management system of The Second People's Hospital of Zhangye City was collected, and statistical analysis was performed in terms of the origin, age, gender, occupation and main diagnosis of the patients. The database was established using Excel software, and statistical description was performed using SPSS 23.0 software, in which the main indicators were the number of cases and relative numbers (%).

RESULTS

The total number of inpatients in the hospital exhibited an overall upward trend, with the number in 2021 increasing by 40.53% compared with the previous year. Among them, 0.75% of the inpatients resided outside the province and 99.25% resided within the province. The proportion of inpatients within the city was 98.86%, including 85.50% in Ganzhou District and 14.5% in the five surrounding counties (districts). In 2021, the number of inpatients in the five surrounding districts increased by 60.67% compared with the previous year. The occupational structure of the inpatients was mainly farmers, accounting for 64.68%, which was higher than all other occupational groups, while public employees accounted for 17.9%. Inpatients aged 60 years and above accounted for 37.75%. In terms of disease spectrum ranking, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, injury and oncological system diseases ranked in the top five of the presented diseases, accounting for 64.47% of the total number of inpatients.

CONCLUSION

The patients of the new hospital are mainly elderly patients and local farmers. The hospital development should be based on the disease characteristics of this group, improving the diagnosis and treatment capacity of the departments and strengthening the capacity building of the hospital and the level of the medical services.

Smart glasses and telehealth services by professionals in isolated areas in Korea: Acceptability and concerns

BACKGROUND: Smart glass technology offers remote interaction between health professionals for telehealth, alleviating healthcare disparities in isolated areas. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the professionals’ perceptions of smart glass technology as a tool for telehealth and distance learning. METHOD: This mixed-method study on health professionals in 10 different island areas in Korea involved participants experiencing a smart glass-based telehealth system using the scenario of clinical consultation with remote specialists. A group pre- and post-test design was used to examine the change in attitude and perceived importance among health professionals about using smart glasses in telehealth. RESULTS: Forty-seven participants completed both pre-and post-evaluation of smart glasses. A positive, statistically significant change in participants’ perceptions of smart glasses regarding their implications for telehealth and distance learning (p< 0.05) was found. Fifty-one health workers provided feedback on smart glasses, and a majority expressed their expectations of quality care with telehealth using advanced technology. The main concerns were patients’ privacy issues and inadequate technology for seamless application. CONCLUSION: The incorporation of smart glass technology offers great potential to enrich telehealth as well as distance learning for unskilled health professionals in isolated areas. Future studies are needed to increase efforts to secure a high level of acceptance for clinical consultation with remote specialists on this newly developed device.