Self-management system for postpartum women with hypertension disorders: an eHealth application intervention study.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension disorders are relatively common in pregnant women and often persist in the postpartum period. Few studies are available regarding the self-management of postpartum hypertension via the eHealth system. This study aimed to develop a self-management eHealth system for women with postpartum hypertension during the postpartum period. METHODS: We adopted a multi-platform system for this research, not only for use on the web interface but also on smartphones. The proposed system possessed three features: (1) the population was limited to postnatal women with hypertension; (2) a self-care record, which allowed postnatal women to keep track of their blood pressure, pulse, weight, medication record, exercise record, and risk factor assessment; and (3) through this system, nurse-midwives could keep track of postnatal women's health status maintaining the complete record and could communicate directly with the users if their health monitor values reach beyond normal range. RESULTS: Thirty-nine postnatal women with postpartum hypertension were recruited to the study. A survey to evaluate the usability and satisfaction of the proposed e-health application system was completed by these women. The usability rate of the system reached 92.4% (46.2% satisfied and 46.2% strongly satisfied), which suggested that the system was helpful to the users. The satisfaction rate of the system reached 94.9% (43.6% satisfied and 51.3% strongly satisfied), which suggested that the system was acceptable to the users. CONCLUSION: This proposed system has been developed completely with user experience and professional advice from experts. Postnatal women could gain important postpartum-related knowledge and access their related health records and other information easily via their smartphones or computers. During the postpartum period, an eHealth application system can effectively assist women with hypertension to manage their blood pressure and related postnatal healthcare issues.

Anti-inflammatory Compound Shows Therapeutic Safety and Efficacy against Flavivirus Infection.

Flaviviruses comprise several medically important viruses, including Japanese encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, dengue virus (DENV), yellow fever virus, and Zika virus (ZIKV). A large outbreak of DENV and ZIKV occurred recently, leading to many cases of illness and death. However, despite decades of effort, we have no clinically specific therapeutic drugs against DENV and ZIKV. Previous studies showed that inflammatory responses play a critical role in dengue and Zika virus pathogenesis. Thus, in this study, we examined a series of novel anti-inflammatory compounds and found that treatment with compound 2d could dose dependently reduce viral protein expression and viral progeny production in HEK-293 and Raw264.7 cells infected with four serotypes of DENV and ZIKV. In addition, considering medication safety, compound 2d could not suppress cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) enzymatic activities and thus could prevent the side effect of bleeding. Moreover, compound 2d significantly inhibited COX-2 enzymatic activities and prostaglandin E2 levels, associated with viral replication, compared to results with a selective COX-2 inhibitor, celecoxib. Furthermore, administering 5 mg/kg compound 2d to DENV-2-infected AG129 mice prolonged survival and reduced viremia and serum cytokine levels. Overall, compound 2d showed therapeutic safety and efficacy in vitro and in vivo and could be further developed as a potential therapeutic agent for flavivirus infection.

The association between Kawasaki disease and allergic diseases, from infancy to school age.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common acquired heart disease among preschool children in most industrialized countries. An atopic trend after KD illness has been observed in epidemiological studies. This is consistent with the findings of elevated IgE levels and increased IL-4 in KD patients. However, studies on the early allergic association among children with KD are still limited. This study aimed to evaluate the association between KD and allergic diseases, from infancy to school age. Allergic diseases included atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis (AR), asthma, and urticaria. This matched case-control study used the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan as its data source. Patients born between 1997 and 2004 and with a main diagnosis of KD were retrieved for analysis. A 1:4 matched control group was selected by zip code, gender, and age. The prevalence rates and progression sequence of allergic manifestations were analyzed. During the first 5 years of life, children with KD had higher rates of allergic manifestations. Both groups have similar atopic march. In 2010, at the age of 6-13 years, there were 7072 children with KD and 27,265 children without KD. Children with KD had more AR (odds ratio [OR], 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22-1.38) and asthma (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.27) than controls. Children with KD have a higher allergic susceptibility recognized from their 1st year of life. The atopic tendency persists until school age. Additional studies are needed to elucidate the underlying determinants of this distinct immune phenotype.

Higher Risk of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Risk Factors among Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the global risk and risk factors associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) among patients with COVID-19: Design: A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Hospitals or nursing homes and patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome after COVID-19. METHODS: The literature review was systematically conducted on Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science, in addition to manual searches and reference list checking from 1 January 2019 to 2 March 2022. The search terms included coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory distress syndrome and observational studies. Three reviewers independently appraised the quality of the studies and extracted the relevant data using the Joanna Briggs Institute abstraction form and critical appraisal tools. A study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022311957). Eligible studies were meta-analyzed and underwent meta-regression. RESULTS: A total of 12 studies were included, with 148,080 participants. The risk ratio (RR) of ARDS was 23%. Risk factors were age ≥ 41-64 years old (RR = 15.3%, 95% CI =0.14-2.92, p = 0.03); fever (RR = 10.3%, 95% CI = 0.03-2.03, p = 0.04); multilobe involvement of the chest (RR = 33.5%, 95% CI = 0.35-6.36, p = 0.02); lymphopenia (RR = 25.9%, 95% CI = 1.11-4.08, p = 0.01); mechanical ventilation with oxygen therapy (RR = 31.7%, 95% CI = 1.10-5.25, p = 0.002); European region (RR = 16.3%, 95% CI = 0.09-3.17, p = 0.03); sample size ≤ 500 (RR = 18.0%, 95% CI = 0.70-2.89, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: One in four patients experienced ARDS after having COVID-19. The age group 41-64 years old and the European region were high-risk groups. These findings can be used by policymakers to allocate resources for respiratory care facilities and can also provide scientific evidence in the design of protocols to manage COVID-19 worldwide.

Effects of a Web-Based Antenatal Care System on Maternal Stress and Self-Efficacy During Pregnancy: A Study in Taiwan.

INTRODUCTION: Women may experience significant stress during pregnancy, and antenatal care and education provide a means to address this. E-health, the use of computer and information technology for health care, has been incorporated into antenatal care and education, but e-health has not been evaluated for its usefulness in addressing stress. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a web-based antenatal care and education system on pregnancy-related stress, general self-efficacy, and satisfaction with antenatal care. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design enrolled pregnant women at 16 to 24 weeks' gestation with a low-risk pregnancy. Women in the control group (n = 67) received routine antenatal care; women in the experimental group (n = 68) also received a web-based antenatal care and education program in the second trimester. Pregnancy stress and general self-efficacy were assessed at study entry and again at 36 to 38 weeks' gestation; satisfaction with care was assessed at the study endpoint. RESULTS: When the pretest scores were controlled, the women in the experimental group reported significantly lower pregnancy-related stress (F = 12.9, P < .001) and significantly higher self-efficacy (F = 17.61, P < .001) than did the women in the control group. Women in the experimental group reported lower pregnancy-related stress (t = 5.09, P < .001) and a higher general self-efficacy (t = -3.17, P = .001) at posttest compared to pretest. However, the women in the control group reported a lower general self-efficacy at posttest compared to pretest (t = 2.86, P = .006). Women in the experimental group reported significantly higher satisfaction levels with antenatal care than those in the control group. DISCUSSION: A web-based antenatal care and education system can improve pregnancy-related stress and general self-efficacy among pregnant women. Integrating health care with web-based or internet-based interventions may improve the quality of antenatal care.

Electronic personal maternity records: Both web and smartphone services.

This study develops an antenatal care information system to assist women during pregnancy. We designed and implemented the system as both a web-based service and a multi-platform application for smartphones and tablets. The proposed system has three novel features: (1) web-based maternity records, which contains concise explanations of various antenatal screening and diagnostic tests; (2) self-care journals, which allow pregnant women to keep track of their gestational weight gains, blood pressure, fetal movements, and contractions; and (3) health education, which automatically presents detailed information on antenatal care and other pregnancy-related knowledge according to the women's gestational age. A survey was conducted among pregnant women to evaluate the usability and acceptance of the proposed system. In order to prove that the antenatal care was effective, clinical outcomes should be provided and the results are focused on a usability evaluation.