Successful weight loss maintainers use health-tracking smartphone applications more than a nationally representative sample: comparison of the National Weight Control Registry to Pew Tracking for Health.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to evaluate successful weight loss maintainers' use of self-monitoring technology. METHODS: National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) participants, who maintained a ≥13.6 kg weight loss for ≥1 year, completed an online survey about self-monitoring technology use. The NWCR sample (n = 794) was compared with a demographically similar subsample of 833 individuals answering the same questions in the Pew Tracking for Health Survey. RESULTS: The NWCR had higher rates of tracking weight, diet or exercise using any modality (92.8% vs. 71.3%), on a regular basis (67.4% vs. 41.3%), and frequency of updating records, compared with Pew (ps < .01). Smartphone ownership was higher in NWCR participants (80.2% vs. 52.8%, p < .001), and NWCR smartphone owners had 23.1 times greater odds for using diet, food or calorie counter apps (58.9% vs. 5.9%) and 15.5 times greater odds for using weight monitoring apps (31.7% vs. 3.0%; all ps < .01). Pew respondents more often changed their behaviour based on their tracking data (ps < .01). CONCLUSION: Use of self-monitoring technology is common in weight loss maintainers: more so than in a nationally representative sample. However, the national sample more often changed their behaviour based on tracking data, perhaps suggesting that weight loss maintainers could derive additional benefit from technology they are already using.

Rural dentistry: opportunities for the next millennium in fixed and mobile practices.

Many dentists assume that practice in California's rural counties would be hindered by lower income potential, professional isolation, and lack of specialists for assistance. The evidence suggests otherwise, however. Income data show that the population of many rural counties can well afford dental care. In addition, new uses of the Internet for teleconsulting and idea exchange has the potential for reducing isolation and providing access to specialized knowledge. Particularly for those practitioners who enjoy the rural lifestyle, such counties offer excellent potential for dental practice.

Integrated library systems.

The development of integrated library systems is discussed. The four major discussion points are (1) initial efforts; (2) network resources; (3) minicomputer-based systems; and (4) beyond library automation. Four existing systems are cited as examples of current systems.

Information technology.

The AAAS Annual Meeting will be held in Detroit on 26-31 May 1983. The inclusive dates were given incorrectly as 21-31 May in the heading of the Preliminary Program (25 Feb., p. 948). The large body of water shown to the south of Detroit on the cover of the issue of 25 February is Lake Erie. The cover legend stated incorrectly that it was Lake Huron.

Optical disk technology and information.

The optical video disk, spawned by the home entertainment industry, and its counterpart, the optical digital disk, both hold great promise for information storage and retrieval and the scientific enterprise. Optical digital disks for computer mass storage are currently under development by many firms. In addition, efforts are under way to allow encoding of digital information on video disks. This is desirable as an inexpensive publication medium for machine-readable data as well as a means of obtaining both video and digital information on one disk. Potential applications of this technology include inexpensive on-line storage, random access graphics to complement on-line information systems, hybrid network architectures, office automation systems, and archival storage.

The hepatitis knowledge base. A prototype information transfer system.

The Hepatitis Knowledge Base is a prototype computerized information-transfer system aimed at supporting the health practitioner's day-to-day diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment decisions concerned with viral hepatitis. An overview of information-transfer problems in biomedicine is presented and issues pertinent to the knowledge-base concept are discussed. The following research activities are described: selection and organization of the content of the initial draft of the complete Hepatitis Knowledge Base; the method for consensus development by a nationally distributed panel of collaborating experts on the subject matter; methods for updating the knowledge base and maintaining its currency over time; use of a computer conferencing network as the principal medium of communication among the geographically dispersed experts and the project staff; support of on-line access to the knowledge-base contents; and formative evaluation of the above methods and limited field testing of the access system.

Design of a practical dental chair made of corrugated cardboard.

Directions for the construction of a corrugated cardboard dental chair, useful for mobile clinics and community dentistry programs, are presented. The designers of the cardboard dental chair and I hope that it will be as useful to other members of our profession as it has been to the USC Mobile Dental Clinic.

Recommended data elements for the descriptive cataloging of computer-based educational materials in the health sciences.

A large part of the mission of the National Library of Medicine is to collect, index, and disseminate the world's biomedical literature. Until recently, this related only to serial and monographic material, but as new forms of information appear responsibility for bibliographic control of these also must be assumed by the National Library of Medicine. This paper briefly describes the type of information that will be necessary before descriptive cataloging of computer-based educational materials can be attempted.