Dataset Information

Smartphone and medical application use among dentists in China.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:With the development of information technology, an increasing number of healthcare professionals are using smartphones and mobile medical applications (apps) in their clinical practice. The objective of this study was to survey the use of smartphone-based medical apps among dentists in China and determine dentists' perceptions of such apps. METHODS:All data were collected using anonymous questionnaires. The questionnaires for this cross-sectional study were randomly sent to dentists by email, and 379 dentists responded. Dentists' demographics and perceptions of WeChat, QQ (the most popular social media apps in China) and other medical apps were assessed; the questionnaire including questions on the purpose, frequency, daily use, and opinion of the apps they used. Questions were answered using a Likert scale (1?=?strongly agree, 2?=?agree, 3?=?not sure, 4?=?disagree, and 5?=?strongly disagree). RESULTS:A total of 379 valid responses were received; the respondents had a median age of 33.6?years old (63.3% female). All subjects (100%) owned a smartphone, and all of them installed and used WeChat or QQ in their clinical practice. Only 76% of subjects installed medical apps (other than WeChat and QQ) on their smartphones. Male dentists were more likely to install medical apps than female dentists (p?

SUBMITTER: Zhang C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7487503 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Smartphone and medical application use among dentists in China.

Zhang Chao C Fan Lin L Chai Zhaowu Z Yu Cong C Song Jinlin J

BMC medical informatics and decision making 20200907 1

<h4>Background</h4>With the development of information technology, an increasing number of healthcare professionals are using smartphones and mobile medical applications (apps) in their clinical practice. The objective of this study was to survey the use of smartphone-based medical apps among dentists in China and determine dentists' perceptions of such apps.<h4>Methods</h4>All data were collected using anonymous questionnaires. The questionnaires for this cross-sectional study were randomly sen ...[more]

PMID: 32894112

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Project description:BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The guidelines of the German College of General Practitioners and Family Physicians (DEGAM) on frequent and important reasons for encounter in Primary Care play a central role in the teaching of Family Medicine. They were edited by the authors into an app for mobile phones, making them available at all times to General Practitioners and medical students. This study examines the issue: how useful do students consider this application within their learning process in Family Medicine? METHOD: The short versions of the 15 DEGAM guidelines were processed as a web app (for all smartphone software systems) including offline utilisation, and offered to students in the Family Medicine course, during clinical attachments in General Practice, on elective compulsory courses or for their final year rotation in General Practice. The evaluation was made with a structured survey using the feedback function of the Moodle learning management system [http://www.elearning-allgemeinmedizin.de] with Likert scales and free-text comments. RESULTS: Feedback for evaluation came from 14 (25%) of the student testers from the Family Medicine course (9), the clinical attachment in General Practice (1), the final year rotation in General Practice (1) and elective compulsory courses (4). Students rated the app as an additional benefit to the printed/pdf-form. They use it frequently and successfully during waiting periods and before, during, or after lectures. In addition to general interest and a desire to become acquainted with the guidelines and to learn, the app is consulted with regard to general (theoretical) questions, rather than in connection with contact with patients. Interest in and knowledge of the guidelines is stimulated by the app, and on the whole the application can be said to be well suited to the needs of this user group. DISCUSSION: The students evaluated the guidelines app positively: as a modern way of familiarising them with the guidelines and expanding their knowledge, particularly through its use in waiting periods and the attractive medium smartphone. However, the latter prevents a mandatory curricular use in compulsory courses, since not all students use smartphones. It is a meaningful addition to existing teaching materials and supports evidence-based teaching in Family Medicine and is suitable for use not only in university course teaching but also during clinical training.

Project description:Inhalation therapy is the basis of the pharmacological management of asthma and COPD. Most patients are trained on the correct use of inhalers by health professionals but after that do patients continue to take them correctly at home remains largely unknown. Video recording of the inhalation technique using a smartphone can be used to evaluate the inhaler technique at home. Through this pilot study, we aimed to understand whether inhaler training given to patients in the outpatient clinic translates into good inhalation practices at home by a video application platform using a smartphone. We recruited 70 newly diagnosed asthma and COPD patients and a pulmonologist trained them to use their inhaler until they were able to use it correctly. Videos of inhaler use were captured by a relative or a friend at home and then sent to an independent reviewer via WhatsApp on Days 1, 7, 14 and 28 (±2). Each step of the inhaler technique was evaluated based on a predetermined checklist with a rating scale of 0 to 10 (10 for all steps done correctly). Out of 70 patients recruited, 30 (42%) sent all videos. We found that, although all patients performed all the steps correctly in the clinic, none of them performed all steps correctly at home even on Day 1 itself of the inhaler use. On Day 1, the steps score reduced from 10 to 6.9 with a downward trend until Day 28. The most common mistakes from Day 1 onwards were incorrect inspiratory flow rates and not gargling after the inhaler use. Also, most patients showed partially effective inhalation as per our scoring method. Remote video monitoring of inhaler use in the home environment is possible with a mobile video application that gives us a better insight into the most common inhaler mistakes performed by patients at home. Inhaler errors start appearing immediately on Day 1 after the training, and incorrect inspiratory flow rates and forgetting to do gargles are common errors. Early detection of inhaler errors at home may be possible through this method.

Project description:Background: In most countries, large cerebral artery occlusion is identified as the leading cause of disability. In 2015, five large-scale clinical trials confirmed the benefit of intra-arterial thrombectomy. However, thrombectomy is a highly technical and facility-dependent procedure. Primary stroke centers need to transfer patients to comprehensive stroke centers to perform thrombectomy. The time-lapse during interhospital transfer would decrease the chance of the patient's proper recovery. Communication barriers also contribute to this delay. Aims: We used a smartphone application to overcome communication barriers between hospitals. We aimed to shorten the door-to-puncture time of interhospital transfer patients. Methods: We began using a smartphone application, "LINE," to facilitate interhospital communication on May 01, 2018. We carried out retrospective data analyses for all the transfer patients (n = 351), with the primary outcome being the door-to-puncture time in our comprehensive stroke center (China Medical University Hospital). We compared the three periods: May 01 to Dec 31, 2017 (before the use of the smartphone application); May 01 to Dec 31, 2018 (the 1st year of using the smartphone application); and May 01 to Dec 31, 2019 (the 2nd year of using the smartphone application). We also compared the transfer data with non-transfer thrombectomies in the same period. Results: We compared 2017, 2018, and 2019 data. The total number of transfer patients increased over the years: 63, 113, 175, respectively. The mean door-to-puncture time decreased significantly, going from 109, through 102, to 92 min. Meanwhile, the mean door-to-puncture time in non-transfer patients were 140.3, 122.1, and 129.3 min. The main reason of time saving was the change of the way of communication, from point-to-point interhospital communication to hub-to-spoke interhospital communication. Conclusions: We used this smartphone application to enhance interhospital communication, changed from the point-to-point to hub-to-spoke method. It made us overcome the communication barrier and build up interhospital connection, thus shortening the door-to-puncture time. Our experience demonstrated the importance of close communication and teamwork in hyperacute stroke care, especially in interhospital transfer for thrombectomy.

Project description:ObjectiveWith the increasing awareness of the importance of oral health, patients have an increasing need for integrated care from dentists. In China, the dentistry examination consists of two parts: a practical skills examination and a comprehensive medical examination; to date, no assessment methods that are based on specialized dentistry competencies, unlike the United States, Canada, and other countries, have been established. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to construct a competency model for dentists in China in order to guide the development, admission, training and assessment of dentists.MethodsUsing a literature review, focus group interviews and in-depth personal interviews, a dentist competency index was developed with an expert consultation questionnaire. A panel of 20 specialist experts was chosen from ten national medical universities to carry out two rounds of Delphi expert analysis, using the boundary value method to filter the indicators and the Analytic Hierarchy Process to calculate the weights of the primary indicators.ResultsTwo rounds of Delphi results showed that the expert authority, enthusiasm, and coordination coefficients were high. Constructs of the competency model that included seven primary indicators and 62 secondary indicators determined the weight of each index. The seven primary indicators included the following: clinical skills and medical services, disease prevention and health promotion, interpersonal communication skills, core values and professionalism, medical knowledge and lifelong learning ability, teamwork ability and scientific research ability.ConclusionIn conclusion, the use of the Delphi method to construct an initial model of Chinese physician competency is scientific and feasible. The initial competency model conforms to the characteristics and quality requirements of dentists in China and has a strong scientific basis. The dentist competency model should be used in the National Dental Licensing Examination in China.

Project description:BackgroundThe WhatsApp smartphone app is the most widely used instant messaging app in the world. Recent studies reported the use of WhatsApp for educational purposes, but there is no prospective study comparing WhatsApp's pedagogical effectiveness to that of any other teaching modality.ObjectiveThe main objective of this study was to measure the impact of a learning program via WhatsApp on clinical reasoning in medical residents.MethodsThis prospective, randomized, multicenter study was conducted among first- and second-year anesthesiology residents (offline recruitment) from four university hospitals in France. Residents were randomized in two groups of online teaching (WhatsApp and control). The WhatsApp group benefited from daily delivery of teaching documents on the WhatsApp app and a weekly clinical case supervised by a senior physician. In the control group, residents had access to the same documents via a traditional computer electronic learning (e-learning) platform. Medical reasoning was self-assessed online by a script concordance test (SCT; primary parameter), and medical knowledge was assessed using multiple-choice questions (MCQs). The residents also completed an online satisfaction questionnaire.ResultsIn this study, 62 residents were randomized (32 to the WhatsApp group and 30 to the control group) and 22 residents in each group answered the online final evaluation. We found a difference between the WhatsApp and control groups for SCTs (60% [SD 9%] vs 68% [SD 11%]; P=.006) but no difference for MCQs (18/30 [SD 4] vs 16/30 [SD 4]; P=.22). Concerning satisfaction, there was a better global satisfaction rate in the WhatsApp group than in the control group (8/10 [interquartile range 8-9] vs 8/10 [interquartile range 8-8]; P=.049).ConclusionsCompared to traditional e-learning, the use of WhatsApp for teaching residents was associated with worse clinical reasoning despite better global appreciation. The use of WhatsApp probably contributes to the dispersion of attention linked to the use of the smartphone. The impact of smartphones on clinical reasoning should be studied further.

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Smartphone and medical application use among dentists in China.

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Smartphone and medical application use among dentists in China.

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