Decision Support Systems in Health Care - Velocity of Apriori Algorithm.

The amount of stored data in health information systems can reach tera- and petabytes and application of specific algorithms in the field of data mining makes finding useful information suitable for making quality business decisions. A frequently used method for determining the rules of the relationship between attributes is the Association rule by applying Apriori algorithm. Lack of basic Apriori algorithm is derived from the slow work due to multiple scanned data sets. By examining the speed of generating the basic rules in relation to the improved Apriori algorithm by using software RapidMiner confirmed that the time required to generate rules for Improved algorithm is shorter, the rules are quickly generated particularly for large data sets, which is an advantage for making decisions.

Training of Students for Critical Evaluation of Mobile Health Applications.

Medical and nursing students need to be trained in critical evaluation of mobile health applications (m-health apps) in order to see their potential and to understand the need for their validation and certification. Students should develop positive attitudes but also critical views on such apps in order to be prepared for responsible and ethical use of m-health in their future professional practice.

New study program: Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Specialist Study in Medical Informatics.

Paper presents an overview of the EU funded Project of Curriculum Development for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Specialist Study in Medical Informatics named MEDINFO to be introduced in Croatia. The target group for the program is formed by professionals in any of the areas of medicine, IT professionals working on applications of IT for health and researchers and teachers in medical informatics. In addition to Croatian students, the program will also provide opportunity for enrolling students from a wider region of Southeast Europe. Project partners are two faculties of the University of Zagreb - Faculty of Organization and Informatics from Varazdin and School of Medicine, Andrija Stampar School of Public Health from Zagreb with the Croatian Society for Medical Informatics, Croatian Chamber of Economy, and Ericsson Nikola Tesla Company as associates.

Medical informatics in croatia - a historical survey.

A historical survey of medical informatics (MI) in Croatia is presented from the beginnings in the late sixties of the 20th century to the present time. Described are MI projects, applications in clinical medicine and public health, start and development of MI research and education, beginnings of international cooperation, establishment of the Croatian Society for MI and its membership to EFMI and IMIA. The current status of computerization of the Croatian healthcare system is sketched as well as the present graduate and postgraduate study MI curricula. The information contained in the paper shows that MI in Croatia developed and still develops along with its advancement elsewhere.

A comparison of approaches to providing patients access to summary care records across old and new europe: an exploration of facilitators and barriers to implementation.

Providing online access to their medical records should empower patients. National health services in Estonia, France, and England introduced systems to provide online access to summary health data. The Estonian patient access called "Patient Portal" shares similarities with the French system "Dossier Médical Personnel" (DMP). Both are patient-controlled records. The English system "Summary Care Record" (SCR) provided access to patients through "HealthSpace," though has now been replaced by encouraging access to GP records. Denmark and Ireland also provided access rights to patients so they could view their records. Romania, Croatia, and Greece do not have national systems. The aim of this study is to compare adoption and uptake of patient access to summary data. The Estonian record was used by 3.6% of the population, the French one by 0.5% and the English system is due for closure with only 0.01% signing up for the most comprehensive access. Few countries across Europe have adopted patient access to summary health data at a national level, and where introduced, medical records have been accessed by less than 5% of the population.

Medical students and e-Health.

The term eHealth is widely used in both scientific literature and in everyday life. There are many activities related to eHealth both globally and in Europe. In Croatia, eHealth is a priority area of the eCroatia programme. There is no doubt that eHealth is the environment where present and prospective medical students will work after leaving medical schools. In order to find out what medical students think eHealth is and which information about eHealth reach them, we started this project with second year medical students in academic year 2010/2011. At the very beginning of medical informatics course, students were asked to write an essay with the title "eHealth" based on their existing knowledge and experiences on this topic. Till now 147 written contributions were analyzed. We performed lexicometric analysis and correspondence analysis using French software Dtm-Vic for textual analysis. Very modest vocabulary and choice of words imply that students have little personal experience and knowledge about eHealth. Students who had medical secondary school education described eHealth differently, probably because they encounter some of eHealth applications while attending lectures in health care institutions.

Ageing, arterial blood pressure, body mass index, and diet.

For three decades we followed up for longevity indicators, including diet, arterial blood pressure, and body mass index 379 mobile, long-living persons from Croatia, now aged 70 to 92 years, of whom 167 men aged (78.6 ± 4.0) years and 212 women aged (77.9 ± 4.1) years. One hundred and ninety-five were from the continental and 184 from the coastal Croatia. The participants were examined in 1972, 1982, and again in 2006/7. Changes in body mass index (BMI), arterial blood pressure (ABP), and in answers to our Food Frequency Questionnaire about dietary habits were analysed using log-linear models. Over the last 24 years of aging (age 55 to 78 years) the subjects showed a statistically significant decrease in body mass and height and a significant increase in the systolic blood pressure. Diastolic blood pressure and BMI showed no significant changes over this period. Consumption of preserved and fresh meat, bread, and starch (potato, pastry and rice) dropped significantly with age, while the consumption of fish, fresh and cooked vegetables, fruit, and dairy products significantly increased. These dietary changes were not associated with changes in the systolic and diastolic ABP. About 80 % were overweight (BMI >25 kg m(-2)) throughout the follow-up, even though their body mass dropped significantly after the age of 55. However, their survival suggests that BMI may not be the best indicator of longevity or healthy aging.

Computer laboratory in medical education for medical students.

Five generations of second year students at the Zagreb University School of Medicine were interviewed through an anonymous questionnaire on their use of personal computers, Internet, computer laboratories and computer-assisted education in general. Results show an advance in students' usage of information and communication technology during the period from 1998/99 to 2002/03. However, their positive opinion about computer laboratory depends on installed capacities: the better the computer laboratory technology, the better the students' acceptance and use of it.

How to find out burning problem of telemedicine?

Sample of 177 cited papers from Current Contents in year 2001 containing word 'telemedicine' as a keyword, and/or in title and/or in abstract. Most of papers were coming from Journal of Telemedicine & Telecare, International Journal of Medical Informatics and Telemedicine Journal & E-Health. Titles and abstracts were analysed statistically by using Sphinx Lexica as a tool and lexical statistics and lexical analysis as methods. Environment/neighbourhood of words potentially reflecting evaluation in telemedicine, enabled to make synthesis: evaluation or similar words were mentioned in connections with programs and plans of telemedicine application in the whole, with economic issue (minimizing, low-cost, reducing cost), with ICT evaluation, quality, and scarcely with methodology and criteria for evaluation.