Predicting the Onset of Diabetes with Machine Learning Methods.

The number of people suffering from diabetes in Taiwan has continued to rise in recent years. According to the statistics of the International Diabetes Federation, about 537 million people worldwide (10.5% of the global population) suffer from diabetes, and it is estimated that 643 million people will develop the condition (11.3% of the total population) by 2030. If this trend continues, the number will jump to 783 million (12.2%) by 2045. At present, the number of people with diabetes in Taiwan has reached 2.18 million, with an average of one in ten people suffering from the disease. In addition, according to the Bureau of National Health Insurance in Taiwan, the prevalence rate of diabetes among adults in Taiwan has reached 5% and is increasing each year. Diabetes can cause acute and chronic complications that can be fatal. Meanwhile, chronic complications can result in a variety of disabilities or organ decline. If holistic treatments and preventions are not provided to diabetic patients, it will lead to the consumption of more medical resources and a rapid decline in the quality of life of society as a whole. In this study, based on the outpatient examination data of a Taipei Municipal medical center, 15,000 women aged between 20 and 80 were selected as the subjects. These women were patients who had gone to the medical center during 2018-2020 and 2021-2022 with or without the diagnosis of diabetes. This study investigated eight different characteristics of the subjects, including the number of pregnancies, plasma glucose level, diastolic blood pressure, sebum thickness, insulin level, body mass index, diabetes pedigree function, and age. After sorting out the complete data of the patients, this study used Microsoft Machine Learning Studio to train the models of various kinds of neural networks, and the prediction results were used to compare the predictive ability of the various parameters for diabetes. Finally, this study found that after comparing the models using two-class logistic regression as well as the two-class neural network, two-class decision jungle, or two-class boosted decision tree for prediction, the best model was the two-class boosted decision tree, as its area under the curve could reach a score of 0.991, which was better than other models.

Effectiveness of Interdisciplinary Teaching on Creativity: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Little is known about the effectiveness of Interdisciplinary teaching (IDT) in higher education, particularly for healthcare education in Taiwan. It is vital to determine if IDT could enhance divergent creative thinking and team creativity among nursing students. A quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design. Students enrolled in a capstone nursing course for the development of healthcare-related products were divided into two groups. The intervention group (n = 61) was taught creative thinking skills with IDT by faculty. The control group (n = 84) was taught by nursing faculty with traditional teaching. This study found that students who received the IDT intervention scored significantly higher on measures of creative thinking and team creativity compared with students in the control group. These findings suggest integrating IDT from nursing and design faculty into the teaching curriculum to foster students' creative thinking abilities when formulating interdisciplinary student teams to develop innovative, creative healthcare products.

Predictors of individually perceived levels of team creativity for teams of nursing students in Taiwan: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The complexity of healthcare and concurrent advances in technology have promoted Interprofessional Education (IPE) in healthcare schools to prepare students to collaborate on interdisciplinary teams. Since 2016, healthcare curricula in Taiwan have incorporated IPE-based capstone courses to enhance creativity. To better understand the predictors of team creativity could help educators improve IPE and outcomes for nursing students and patients. PURPOSE: To determine whether nursing students' demographic characteristics, individual creativity, and perceived team interaction behaviors, team swift trust, team conflict, and team task interdependence may predict high perceived team creativity in IPE settings. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design included nursing students (N = 99) at a science and technology university in Taiwan. Data from self-report questionnaires included variables for demographic characteristics, individual creativity, and perceived team characteristics. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed predictors of high perceived team creativity. RESULTS: Nursing students who perceived high team creativity also perceived higher interaction behaviors and lower process conflict than those who perceived less creativity. Spontaneous communication and team task conflict predicted high perceived team creativity. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing educators could increase team creativity in IPE by encouraging spontaneous communication and constructive task-oriented conflict management. This may benefit patient outcomes in the future.

Conflict and interactions on interdisciplinary nursing student teams: The moderating effects of spontaneous communication.

BACKGROUND: Recently, empirical researchers have observed direct associations between conflict and interaction behaviors within organizational teams. However, research concerning indirect links between conflict and interaction behaviors on interdisciplinary teams in nursing school is scant, particularly in Taiwan. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among various types of conflict and interaction behaviors on interdisciplinary nursing education teams. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This study utilized a cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive design. The authors collected survey data from 99 nursing students who participated in 18-week capstone courses of small interdisciplinary groups collaborating to design healthcare products in Taiwan during 2018 and 2019. METHODS: Questionnaires assessed the nursing students' perceptions about their teams' conflicts (of task, process, and relationship), and interaction behaviors (constructive controversy, helping behaviors, and spontaneous communication). The authors used descriptive statistics to compare demographics, conflict scores, and interaction behavior scores for collocated and distributed interdisciplinary teams. A Pearson's analysis identified correlations among the variables and their components, and the SPSS PROCESS macro showed moderating effects of spontaneous communication on the relationship between distributed team and conflict subscales. RESULTS: After confirming the distributed team experienced significantly more conflict than the collocated team, we found significant negative correlations between constructive controversy and both process conflict and relationship conflict on the distributed team. Another interaction behavior, spontaneous communication, had a moderating effect on the relationships between the distributed team and both task conflict and relationship conflict. CONCLUSION: In interdisciplinary educational settings for nursing students, spontaneous communication may moderate the types of conflict that distributed teams are more likely than collocated teams to experience. Constructive controversy may be especially effective at mitigating conflict on distributed teams. Nursing educators may refer to these insights to improve outcomes for educational interdisciplinary healthcare teams.

Perceived Self-Efficacy of Teaching for Creativity Among Nurse Faculty in Taiwan: A Preliminary Study.

Many health care education programs, particularly those in Taiwan, have begun offering capstone product-based curricula, not only to improve nursing students' problem-solving skills but also to foster creativity and innovation regarding health care issues. This study used a cross-sectional quantitative design to explore the efficacy of teaching for creativity among nurse faculty in Taiwan. Results showed knowledge of intellectual property rights was low, as was ability to creatively evaluate trademark and patent designs. Curiosity was the main predictor associated with self-efficacy of teaching for creativity.

Development of a method for manufacturing customized nasal mask cushion for CPAP therapy.

A continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device is considered one of the most effective treatments for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, many patients receiving this treatment complain of mask discomfort and other issues. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a customized nasal mask cushion to reduce the discomfort associated with conventional masks. First, a 3D face scanner was used to obtain 3D facial data of participants. Second, a model of the face was created by reverse-engineering and then used for the computer-aided design (CAD) of the cushion. Finally, computer numerical control (CNC) was used to manufacture the mold, into which silicone was then injected slowly. A perceived comfort questionnaire was used to compare the customized and conventional cushions. 40 patients were randomly divided into two groups: 20 patients in the control group used a conventional cushion, and the remaining 20 patients used the customized cushion. The customized cushion was found to be superior to the conventional cushion. There are clear differences in the headgear force of the two cushion types (P = 0.001). The customized cushion applied less force to a patient's face than a conventional cushion. Furthermore, there were obvious differences in the fit of the cushions (P = 0.001). Patients using the customized cushions experienced a better fit than those using the conventional cushions. This study has developed a new method for manufacturing customized cushions with better cushion fit through rapid tooling.

Clinical verification of patients with obstructive sleep apnea provided with a customized cushion for continuous positive airway pressure.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea may stop breathing momentarily during sleep because of a narrow upper respiratory tract. One of the main treatments for obstructive sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure. However, after long-term treatment, patients tend to complain about the leakage, inconvenience, and discomfort of the nasal mask. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to develop customized cushions and compare the clinical performance of the customized cushion with the conventional one. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Each participant's face was replicated by using a 3-dimensional scanner and reverse-engineering technology, and computer numerical control techniques were used to design and manufacture customized cushions. Forty participants were randomly divided into 2 groups, a control group with conventional cushions and an experimental group with customized cushions. The saturation level of peripheral oxygen, apnea-hypopnea index, leakage data, and answers to a comfort questionnaire were examined. RESULTS: Customized and conventional cushions were compared with independent sampling t tests and relational analyses. A significant difference was found in the apnea-hypopnea index (P=.001) of participants with the customized cushion and those with the conventional cushion. Participants with the conventional cushion had a lower apnea-hypopnea index. The customized cushion applied less headgear force and fit better than the conventional cushion. The leakage volume, saturation of peripheral oxygen (SpO2), treatment compliance, and degree of comfort were not significantly different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Customized nasal mask cushions fit better and reduce the force applied by the headgear. Participants using a customized cushion showed an improved apnea-hypopnea index.