Applying trans-theoretical model for blood donation among Spanish adults: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Relying solely on altruistic appeals may fail to fulfil the increasing demand for blood supplies. Current research has largely been attempted to determine and understand motives that serve as blood donation drivers. The Trans-Theoretical Model of behaviour change (TTM) can be used to conceptualise the process of intentional blood donation behaviour. METHODS: A cross sectional survey of Spanish adults was conducted. The final sample consisted of 504 individuals who were administered a self-report questionnaire including the measures of demographic characteristics, Stages of Change, Processes of Change, Self-efficacy and Decisional Balance. Data were analysed by frequency analysis, MANOVA/ANOVA and correlation analysis. RESULTS: Findings indicated that most of the behavioural and cognitive processes of change, self-efficacy and physical cons differentiated participants across the stages of change of blood donation. In contrast, eligibility cons and pros were less influential in stage transitions. Furthermore, significant correlations were observed between TTM constructs except for the physical cons and the processes of change. CONCLUSIONS: The present study extensively supports and replicates the applicability of the TTM to blood donation behaviour change and offers important implications for the development of effective stage-matched interventions to increase blood donation.

An Empirical Study of Neural Network-Based Audience Response Technology in a Human Anatomy Course for Pharmacy Students.

This paper presents an empirical study of a formative neural network-based assessment approach by using mobile technology to provide pharmacy students with intelligent diagnostic feedback. An unsupervised learning algorithm was integrated with an audience response system called SIDRA in order to generate states that collect some commonality in responses to questions and add diagnostic feedback for guided learning. A total of 89 pharmacy students enrolled on a Human Anatomy course were taught using two different teaching methods. Forty-four students employed intelligent SIDRA (i-SIDRA), whereas 45 students received the same training but without using i-SIDRA. A statistically significant difference was found between the experimental group (i-SIDRA) and the control group (traditional learning methodology), with T (87) = 6.598, p < 0.001. In four MCQs tests, the difference between the number of correct answers in the first attempt and in the last attempt was also studied. A global effect size of 0.644 was achieved in the meta-analysis carried out. The students expressed satisfaction with the content provided by i-SIDRA and the methodology used during the process of learning anatomy (M = 4.59). The new empirical contribution presented in this paper allows instructors to perform post hoc analyses of each particular student's progress to ensure appropriate training.

[A guide to good practice for information security in the handling of personal health data by health personnel in ambulatory care facilities]. / Guía de buenas prácticas de seguridad informática en el tratamiento de datos de salud para el personal sanitario en atención primaria.

The appearance of electronic health records has led to the need to strengthen the security of personal health data in order to ensure privacy. Despite the large number of technical security measures and recommendations that exist to protect the security of health data, there is an increase in violations of the privacy of patients' personal data in healthcare organizations, which is in many cases caused by the mistakes or oversights of healthcare professionals. In this paper, we present a guide to good practice for information security in the handling of personal health data by health personnel, drawn from recommendations, regulations and national and international standards. The material presented in this paper can be used in the security audit of health professionals, or as a part of continuing education programs in ambulatory care facilities.

E-health internationalization requirements for audit purposes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In the 21st century, e-health is proving to be one of the strongest drivers for the global transformation of the health care industry. Health information is currently truly ubiquitous and widespread, but in order to guarantee that everyone can appropriately access and understand this information, regardless of their origin, it is essential to bridge the international gap. The diversity of health information seekers languages and cultures signifies that e-health applications must be adapted to satisfy their needs. METHODS: In order to achieve this objective, current and future e-health programs should take into account the internationalization aspects. This paper presents an internationalization requirements specification in the form of a reusable requirements catalog, obtained from the principal related standards, and describes the key methodological elements needed to perform an e-health software audit by using the internationalization knowledge previously gathered. RESULTS: S Health, a relevant, well-known Android application that has more than 150 million users in over 130 countries, was selected as a target for the e-health internationalization audit method and requirements specification presented above. This application example helped us to put into practice the proposal and show that the procedure is realistic and effective. CONCLUSIONS: The approach presented in this study is subject to continuous improvement through the incorporation of new knowledge originating from additional information sources, such as other standards or stakeholders. The application example is useful for early evaluation and serves to assess the applicability of the internationalization catalog and audit methodology, and to improve them. It would be advisable to develop of an automated tool with which to carry out the audit method.

A Computer-Aided Detection System for Digital Chest Radiographs.

Computer-aided detection systems aim at the automatic detection of diseases using different medical imaging modalities. In this paper, a novel approach to detecting normality/pathology in digital chest radiographs is proposed. The problem tackled is complicated since it is not focused on particular diseases but anything that differs from what is considered as normality. First, the areas of interest of the chest are found using template matching on the images. Then, a texture descriptor called local binary patterns (LBP) is computed for those areas. After that, LBP histograms are applied in a classifier algorithm, which produces the final normality/pathology decision. Our experimental results show the feasibility of the proposal, with success rates above 87% in the best cases. Moreover, our technique is able to locate the possible areas of pathology in nonnormal radiographs. Strengths and limitations of the proposed approach are described in the Conclusions.

Neural network-based data analysis for medical-surgical nursing learning.

This paper presents the results of a project on neural network-based data analysis for knowledge clustering in a second-year course on medical-surgical nursing. Data was collected from 208 nursing students which performed one Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) test at the end of the first term. A total of 23 pattern groups were created using snap-drift. Data obtained can be integrated with an on-line MCQ system for training purposes. Findings about how students are classified suggest that the level of knowledge of the individuals can be addressed by customized feedback to guide them towards a greater understanding of particular concepts.

Effects of competitive computer-assisted learning versus conventional teaching methods on the acquisition and retention of knowledge in medical surgical nursing students.

PURPOSE: This paper presents a novel approach of computer-assisted learning for nursing education in university undergraduate courses. BACKGROUND: The most innovative aspect of the proposal is the design of nursing assignments as on-line competitions. The effects of competitive e-learning versus conventional teaching methods on the acquisition and retention of knowledge were compared in a course on medical-surgical nursing. METHOD: A total of 116 students of mixed gender, age, computer experience and educational background in a second-year course on medical-surgical nursing participated in the study. Data were collected from nursing students at four time points. The on-line activities were carried out using a web-based automatic evaluation system. RESULTS: The study revealed that the competitive e-learning method produced significant cognitive gains for the experimental group students in the immediate follow-up test. Nevertheless, both teaching methods resulted in similar knowledge retention in the 10-week follow-up test. CONCLUSION: Significant benefits were found following our approach. The work of the students could be evaluated along the course, the workload of instructors was reduced and students received immediate feedback by the on-line judge, which promoted both independent learning and reflective thinking. The approach is applicable to any other nursing educational institution.

Teléfonos inteligentes para la tercera edad: una revisión de aplicaciones móviles de salud / Smart Phones for the elderly: a review of mobile health applications

Objetivo: Conocer cuáles aplicaciones para teléfonos inteligentes y su funcionalidad se encuentran disponibles para una persona de la tercera edad en el ámbito de la salud. Métodos: Se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura para la selección de publicaciones científicas, y un estudio de aplicaciones en los repositorios de aplicaciones móviles GooglePlay y AppStore. Resultados: Se identificaron 18 aplicaciones, con características muy variadas. Los resultados muestran que las aplicaciones están especializadas en una enfermedad o campo concreto: Alzheimer y demencia, diabetes, enfermedades cardíacas, enfermedades pulmonares y gestión de la salud. Además, se observó que la mayoría de las aplicaciones encontradas no son usables, ni están adaptadas para personas mayores. Conclusiones: Los botones grandes, menús sencillos con pocas opciones y mensajes de voz para sustituir texto en funciones de recordatorios o confirmación de acciones facilitan el uso de las aplicaciones de salud por personas de la tercera edad. El diseño y desarrollo de carpetas personales desarrollo de carpetas personales de salud con funciones orientadas a cubrir la comorbilidad de las personas de la tercera edad es un área de investigación prometedora.

Objective: To discover which smartphone applications and functionality are available to the elderlies in the field of health care. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to select scientific publications as well as a study of available applications in the mobile applications repositories GooglePlay and AppStore. Results: Eighteen mobile phone applications with a variety of features were identified. The results show that the applications are focused on a specific disease or field, such as Alzheimer and dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and health management. In addition, the study showed that the majority of the selected applications are neither usable nor adapted to be used by elder adults. Conclusions: Large buttons, simple menus with few options and voice messages replacing text in reminders and confirm dialogs make easier the use of mobile phone applications by the elderly. The design and development of Personal Health Records with functions that cover the comorbidity of elderly people is a promising research area.