Contents analysis of telemedicine applications in South Korea: An analysis of possibility of inducing selective or unnecessary medical care.

The use of telemedicine and telehealth has rapidly increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, could lead to unnecessary medical service. This study analyzes the contents of telemedicine apps (applications) in South Korea to investigate the use of telemedicine for selective or unnecessary medical treatments and the presence of advertising for the hospital. This study analyzed 49 telemedicine mobile apps in Korea; a content analysis of the apps' features and quality using a Mobile Application Rating Scale was done. The study analyzed 49 mobile telemedicine apps and found that 65.3% of the apps provide immediate telemedicine service without reservations, with an average rating of 4.35. 87% of the apps offered selective care, but the overall quality of the apps was low, with an average total quality score of 3.27. 73.9% of the apps were able to provide selective care for alopecia or morning-after pill prescription, 65.2% of the apps for weight loss, and 52.2% of the apps for erectile dysfunction, with the potential to encourage medical inducement or abuse. Therefore, before introducing telemedicine, it is helpful to prevent the possibility of abuse of telemedicine by establishing detailed policies for methods and scope of telemedicine.

Contents analysis of thyroid cancer-related information uploaded to YouTube by physicians in Korea: endorsing thyroid cancer screening, potentially leading to overdiagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid cancer overdiagnosis is a major public health issue in South Korea, which has the highest incidence rate. The accessibility of information through the Internet, particularly on YouTube, could potentially impact excessive screening. This study aimed to analyze the content of thyroid cancer-related YouTube videos, particularly those from 2016 onwards, to evaluate the potential spread of misinformation. METHODS: A total of 326 videos for analysis were collected using a video search protocol with the keyword "thyroid cancer" on YouTube. This study classified the selected YouTube videos as either provided by medical professionals or not and used topic clustering with LDA (latent dirichlet allocation), sentiment analysis with KoBERT (Korean bidirectional encoder representations from transformers), and reliability evaluation to analyze the content. The proportion of mentions of poor prognosis for thyroid cancer and the categorization of advertising content was also analyzed. RESULTS: Videos by medical professionals were categorized into 7 topics, with "Thyroid cancer is not a 'Good cancer'" being the most common. The number of videos opposing excessive thyroid cancer screening decreased gradually yearly. Videos advocating screening received more favorable comments from viewers than videos opposing excessive thyroid cancer screening. Patient experience videos were categorized into 6 topics, with the "Treatment process and after-treatment" being the most common. CONCLUSION: This study found that a significant proportion of videos uploaded by medical professionals on thyroid cancer endorse the practice, potentially leading to excessive treatments. The study highlights the need for medical professionals to provide high-quality and unbiased information on social media platforms to prevent the spread of medical misinformation and the need for criteria to judge the content and quality of online health information.

The online promotion strategies of e-cigarette and heated tobacco product retailers in South Korea following the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for regulation.

INTRODUCTION: The surge in popularity of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) in South Korea, driven by perceived health benefits and COVID-19-related concerns, has led to increased advertising claims about their safety despite ongoing debates about their health effects. This study explores the marketing strategies of online e-cigarette and HTP retailers in South Korea pre- and post-COVID-19, examining potential misleading claims and providing a foundation for future regulatory measures. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive study of eight major e-commerce platforms and three dominant search engines in South Korea to analyze the marketing and advertising strategies of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) (n=774). Using specific keywords, promotional strategies were identified and categorized, after which statistical analysis was conducted to understand the frequency and proportion of these strategies, highlighting differences between HTP and e-cigarette sellers. RESULTS: Our analysis reveals a significant rise in the number of online retailers selling e-cigarettes and HTPs following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the promotional strategies 'Stay home and vape' and 'Trendy' being the most prevalent. Trends also indicate a shift in promotional strategies over the years, with a marked increase in health reassurance themes and appeals to trendiness, particularly targeting female consumers, which were used significantly more at HTPs stores. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the need for stricter regulation due to the potential health risks posed by the aggressive marketing strategies of e-cigarette and HTP online retailers in South Korea, amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Association of late-life body mass index with the risk of Alzheimer disease: a 10-year nationwide population-based cohort study.

Existing data for the association between late-life body mass index (BMI) and the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the underweight population are limited with conflicting results. A large population-based cohort study of 148,534 individuals aged ≥ 65 years who participated in the national health screening program from 2002 to 2005 was performed using the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Senior cohort database 2006-2015. The risk of AD according to BMI category (kg/m2) in Asians was evaluated using a multivariable Cox regression model, after adjustments for age, sex, lifestyle, low-income status, and comorbidities. To evaluate the association between BMI and AD risk, the underweight population was further subdivided according to the degree of thinness. During the 10-year follow-up period, 22,279 individuals developed AD. Relative to the normal-weight population, the estimated adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for incident AD in the underweight, overweight, and obese populations was 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.24), 0.90 (0.87-0.93), and 0.83 (0.80-0.85), respectively. In the underweight population, AD risk increased as the degree of thinness increased (p for the trend, < .001). Late-life BMI showed a significant inverse relationship with AD risk, especially in the underweight population. Public health strategies to screen for AD more actively in the underweight population and improve their weight status may help reduce the burden of AD.

The Effectiveness of a Mobile Health Care App and Human Coaching Program in Primary Care Clinics: Pilot Multicenter Real-World Study.

BACKGROUND: As the global burden of chronic conditions increases, their effective management is a concern. Although the need for chronic disease management using mobile self-management health care apps is increasing, there are still many barriers to their practical application in the primary care field. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effectiveness of primary care services combining a mobile self-management health care app with human coaching for patients with chronic diseases in the current primary care system. METHODS: A total of 110 patients (mean age 53.2, SD 9.2 years; 64 of 110, 58.2% female) with hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, or metabolic syndrome who visited one of 17 participating primary care clinics from September to November 2020 were included in this study. All participants recorded data regarding changes in body weight, sleep conditions, quality of life, depression, anxiety, stress, BMI, waist circumference, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and blood lipids levels. The app user group (n=65) used a mobile self-management health care app with human coaching for 12 weeks, and the control group (n=45) underwent conventional self-managed health care. RESULTS: Patients in the app user group reported significantly more weight loss than those in the control group-the body weight of the app user group decreased by 1.43 kg (95% CI -2.07 to -0.79) and that of the control group decreased by 0.13 kg (95% CI -0.67 to 0.41; P=.002). The weight loss was markedly greater after using the app for 9 weeks than that when used for 4 weeks or 5-8 weeks (P=.002). Patients in the app user group reported better sleep quality (P=.04) and duration (P=.004) than those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of primary care clinics and a mobile self-management health care app with human coaching results in better management of chronic conditions. This study shows that the primary care services combining a mobile self-management health care app with human coaching are effective in the current primary care system. An implication of this study is the possibility that a mobile self-management health care app with human coaching is a treatment option in the current primary care system.

Contents and sentiment analysis of newspaper articles and comments on telemedicine in Korea: Before and after of COVID-19 outbreak.

Telemedicine is rapidly growing to meet the increased needs for high-quality health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, telemedicine is still a sensitive issue as it is related to medical privatization. The use of telemedicine after the COVID-19 outbreak might be influenced by public opinion, and this may be an important key in implementing telemedicine. In this study, we aimed to assess if telemedicine-related newspaper articles and comments changed positively during the COVID-19 pandemic. From January 1, 2019, to March 1, 2020 (before COVID-19), a total of 1073 telemedicine-related articles were found in the Korean news network. Although the post-COVID-19 article collection period (from March 2, 2020, to September 30, 2020) was about half that of the pre-COVID-19, about twice the number (1934) of telemedicine-related articles were collected. And telemedicine-related news articles had a more positive tone post-COVID-19 than pre-COVID-19 (52.9% after vs 40.4% before). In conclusion, this study presented the association between the COVID-19 outbreak and changes in the media's perception of telemedicine in Korea. This study presented that, as telemedicine begins to be utilized due to COVID-19, news media and readers who embrace it are beginning to view telemedicine positively, suggesting that COVID-19 has a positive foundation for the spread of telemedicine.