Persons with moderate Alzheimer's disease use simple technology aids to manage daily activities and leisure occupation

Two studies assessed technology-aided programs to support performance of daily activities and selection/activation of music items with patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease. In Study I, four patients were presented with activity-related pictorial instructions via a computer fitted with inexpensive, commercial software. In Study II, four patients were (a) presented with different music options and (b) allowed to select and activate the preferred option via a microswitch response. Study I showed that each patient learned to perform the two activities available with percentages of correct responses exceeding 85 by the end of the intervention. Study II showed that all patients learned to choose and activate music options. Psychology students, employed in a social validation check, scored the patients’ behavior within the program better than their behavior in a control situation. The relevance and usability of simplified pictorial-instruction programs and music choice programs for patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease were discussed.     

How does wearable robotic exoskeleton affect overground walking performance measured with the 10-m and six-minute walk tests after a basic locomotor training in healthy individuals?

It is still unknown to what extent overground walking with a WRE is equivalent to natural overground walking without a WRE. Hence, the interpretability of the 10-m (10MWT) and six-minute (6MWT) walk tests during overground walking with a WRE against reference values collected during natural overground walking without a WRE is challenging. This study aimed to 1) compare walking performance across three different overground walking conditions: natural walking without a WRE, walking with a WRE providing minimal assistance (active walking), and walking with a WRE proving complete assistance (passive walking) and 2) assess the association and the agreement between the 10MWT and the 6MWT during passive and active walking with a WRE. Seventeen healthy individuals who underwent basic locomotor training with a WRE performed the 10MWT (preferred and maximal speeds) and the 6MWT under the three conditions. For the 10MWT, the speed progressively and significantly decreased from natural walking without a WRE (preferred: 1.40 ± 0.18 m/s; maximal: 2.16 ± 0.19 m/s), to active walking with a WRE (preferred: 0.48 ± 0.10 m/s; maximal: 0.61 ± 0.14 m/s), and to passive walking with a WRE (preferred: 0.38 ± 0.09 m/s; maximal: 0.42 ± 0.10 m/s). For the 6MWT, total distances decreased from walking without a WRE (609 ± 53.9 m), to active walking with a WRE (196.6 ± 42.6 m), and to passive walking with a WRE (144.3 ± 33.3 m). The 10MWT and 6MWT provide distinct information and can’t be used interchangeably to document speed only during active walking with the WRE. Speed and distance drastically decrease during active and, even more so, passive walking with the WRE in comparison to walking without a WRE. Selection of walking tests should depend on the level of assistance provided by the WRE.     

A pilot study on early home-based intervention through an intelligent baby gym (CareToy) in preterm infants

BackgroundCareToy is an intelligent system, inspired by baby gyms, aimed to provide an intensive, individualized, home-based and family-centred early intervention (EI) program.AimsA pilot study was carried out to explore the feasibility of CareToy intervention in preterm infants, aged 3–9 months of corrected age.MethodsTwenty low-risk preterm infants, without brain lesion or other clinical complications (14 allocated to CareToy intervention and 6 to Standard Care) were recruited. The Infant Motor Profile (IMP) was predefined as the primary outcome measure and Alberta Infant Motor Scale and Teller Acuity Cards as secondary measures. Moreover, 202 pre-programmed training scenarios were developed and instructions for the management of CareToy intervention were defined as general guidelines.Outcomes and resultsAll infants received 4 weeks of their allocated intervention and were evaluated with the selected tests before and immediately after the 4 weeks. The mean difference changes in IMP total score and Teller Acuity Cards over the intervention period were higher in the CareToy group than in the Standard Care group.Conclusions and implicationsCareToy seems a feasible device for providing EI. An adequately powered randomized clinical trial is warranted.     

Single night video-game use leads to sleep loss and attention deficits in older adolescents

The present study investigated adolescent video-game use prior to bedtime and subsequent sleep, working memory and sustained attention performance. Participants were 21 healthy, good-sleeping adolescents (16 male) aged between 15 and 20 years (M = 17.6 years, SD = 1.8). Time spent video-gaming and subsequent sleep was measured across one night in the sleep laboratory. There were significant correlations between time spent video-gaming and sleep and between video-gaming and sustained attention, but not working memory. Sleep duration, in turn, had a significant negative association with sustained attention performance. Mediation analyses revealed that the relationship between video-gaming and sustained attention was fully mediated by sleep duration. These results indicate that video-gaming affected the ability to sustain attention only in as much as it affected sleep. In order to minimise negative consequences of video-game playing, video-games should be used in moderation, avoiding use close to the sleep period, to obviate detriments to sleep and performance.     

医务人员对卫生技术评估的认知分析

为了解医务人员对卫生技术评估的认知,采用现场问卷调查与访谈相结合的方法,对山西省三级综合类医院的医务人员进行调查,从卫生技术评估知晓度、接受培训的意愿、支持意愿、知识获取渠道、期待的职能等方面对结果进行分析,在此基础上指出存在的问题并提出发展建议。     

基于文献计量分析的我国医学信息教育发展历程研究

以中国知网、万方数据库和维普数据库为数据源,对我国近35年医学信息教育领域公开发表的研究论文进行检索和统计,分析文献增长规律、合著情况、高产作者、核心机构、高频关键词、重要期刊等方面,系统总结我国医学信息教育的发展历程,进而为医学信息教育的科学可持续发展提供参考。     

Technology for Diabetes Care and Evaluation in the Veterans Health Administration: Veterans Affairs Research on Health Information Technologies for Diabetes Self-Management Support

Background

Like many patients with diabetes, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients frequently fall short of self-management goals and experience multiple barriers to self-care. Health information technologies (HITs) may provide the tools that patients need to manage their illness under the direction of their primary care team.

Methods

We describe several ongoing projects focused on HIT resources for self-management in VA. VA researchers are developing HITs that seek to bolster a variety of potential avenues for self-management support, including patients′ relationships with other patients, connections with their informal care networks, and communication with their health care teams.

Results

Veterans Affairs HIT research projects are developing services that can address the needs of patients with multiple challenges to disease self-care, including multimorbidity, health literacy deficits, and limited treatment access. These services include patient-to-patient interactive voice response (IVR) calling systems, IVR assessments with feedback to informal caregivers, novel information supports for clinical pharmacists based on medication refill data, and enhanced pedometers.

Conclusion

Large health care systems such as the VA can play a critical role in developing HITs for diabetes self-care. To be truly effective, these efforts should include a continuum of studies: observational research to identify barriers to self-management, developmental studies (e.g., usability testing), efficacy trials, and implementation studies to evaluate utility in real-world settings. VA HIT researchers partner with operations to promote the dissemination of efficacious services, and such relationships will be critical to move HIT innovations into practice.