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Aims: To explore the pattern of unmet medicine information needs of hypertensive patients on long term therapy and their attitude to use of SMS (mobile phone short message service) for medicine information exchange with hospital pharmacists. Sample: 117 hypertensive patients on long term therapy who had been accessing care for at least one year. Study Design: An exploratory medicine information exchange programme followed by a cross-sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study: Outpatient Clinic of Department of Cardiology at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria between October, 2010and May, 2011. Methods: Patients were prompted with SMS twice weekly for 5-8 months for use of their medication with advice to send their medicine information needs to the hospital pharmacist. Received messages were subjected to content analysis to identify their themes. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to explore patient attitude to the use of SMS. The 17-item questionnaire was designed on a 5-point Likert scale for responses with weights of 0-4. Data obtained were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. These include frequencies and mean of weighted averages (MWA); tests of relationships, associations and of differences in means. Results: A total of 63 SMS texts were received from the respondents and 44% of the messages expressed medicine information needs. Majority of the enquiries were related to indications and adverse effects. The patients’ attitude to the use of SMS for medicine information exchange with pharmacists was generally positive (MWA=3.13) with no significant demographic effects. Some (46%) of the patients called for institutionalisation of the medicine information exchange programme. Conclusion: The unmet medicine information needs of chronic hypertensive patients in the study were related mainly to indications and side effects of prescribed and nonprescribed medications and the patients clamoured for use of SMS in redressing the anomaly.
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<b>Objective:</b> The aim of this study was to implement self-care support for leg lymphedema patients using mobile phones and to investigate the effects thereof.<br><b>Patients and Methods:</b> A total of 30 patients with lymphedema following female genital cancer surgery (stages I to II) who were referred from a nearby gynecologist were randomly divided into groups for routine self-care support (control group) and mobile telephone-assisted support (intervention group) and received the self-care support appropriate to their group. The (total) circumference of the leg with edema, FACT-G (cancer patient QOL), MHP (mental health status), and self-care self-assessment were comparatively investigated at three months after the initial interview.<br><b>Results:</b> No significant reduction in the (total) circumferences of legs with edema was confirmed in either the control or intervention group. The intervention group was significantly better than the control group in terms of the activity circumstances and FACT-G mental status at three months after the initial interview. The intervention group was also significantly better in psychological, social, and physical items in the MHP. The intervention group was significantly better than the control group in terms of circumstances of self-care implementation at three months after the initial interview. Additionally, comparison of the circumstances of implementation for different aspects of self-care content showed that the intervention group was significantly better at selecting shoes, observing edema, moisturizing, self-drainage, wearing compression garments, and implementing bandaging.<br><b>Conclusion:</b> Compared with routine self-care support, mobile telephone-assisted support is suggested to be effective for leg lymphedema patients’ QOL and mental health status as well as their self-care behaviors.
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<b>Objective:</b> The aim of this study was to implement self-care support for leglymphedema patients using mobile phones and to investigate the effects thereof.<br><b>Patients and Methods:</b> A total of 30 patients with lymphedema followingfemale genital cancer surgery (stages I to II) who were referred from a nearbygynecologist were randomly divided into groups for routine self-care support (controlgroup) and mobile telephone-assisted support (intervention group) and received theself-care support appropriate to their group. The (total) circumference of the leg withedema, FACT-G (cancer patient QOL), MHP (mental health status), and self-careself-assessment were comparatively investigated at three months after the initialinterview.<br><b>Results:</b> No significant reduction in the (total) circumferences of legs withedema was confirmed in either the control or intervention group. The intervention groupwas significantly better than the control group in terms of the activity circumstances andFACT-G mental status at three months after the initial interview. The intervention groupwas also significantly better in psychological, social, and physical items in the MHP. Theintervention group was significantly better than the control group in terms ofcircumstances of self-care implementation at three months after the initial interview.Additionally, comparison of the circumstances of implementation for different aspects ofself-care content showed that the intervention group was significantly better at selectingshoes, observing edema, moisturizing, self-drainage, wearing compression garments, andimplementing bandaging.<br><b>Conclusion:</b> Compared with routine self-care support, mobiletelephone-assisted support is suggested to be effective for leg lymphedema patients’ QOLand mental health status as well as their self-care behaviors.
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Objective To research the effective protection from microwaves radiated from mobile telephones. Methods The observed mobile telephone was covered with a compound membrane developed by us and made from metal foil, metal silk screen, graphite and binder with a thickness of 0.5 mm. The electromagnetic field intensities were determined at 2.6 cm far from the front of the speaker, screen and keyboard of the observed mobile telephones covered with protective membrane or not. Results The electromagnetic field intensities of those three monitored locations mentioned above were 0.145, 0.095 and 0.085 mW/cm 2 for the mobile telephone without the protective membrane respectively, and were all