ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: We wanted to characterize the acceptability of and women's satisfaction with the eMutterPass application. Particular attention was placed on concerns about data confidentiality and on willingness to use the app in an interactive way to share information about medication consumption. STUDY DESIGN: The present analysis is based on self-reported data from obstetric patients participating in an anonymous online survey between April 6th 2021 and April 20th 2021. RESULTS: During the 2-week timeframe, 1123 questionnaires were completed. The eMutterPass application was widely appreciated by our survey population and almost all participants would recommend the application to other pregnant women. A subpopulation analysis indicates that concerns about data confidentiality were higher among younger, multigravid and non-German-speaking pregnant women. The majority of women would be willing to report their medication use by taking pictures, filling in medication dosages or submitting assessments of perceived drug effectiveness. CONCLUSION: The development of our eMutterPass application meets the spirit of the times and gives pregnant women uncomplicated access to their own data. Concerns about data confidentiality can be adequately countered with additional information about the system structure. The largely positive adherence to the idea of reporting medication use on the app lays the groundwork for potential use of the eMutterPass for documentation of non-prescribed drugs.
Subject(s)
Mobile Applications , Female , Hospitals, University , Humans , Patient-Centered Care , Pregnancy , Pregnant Women , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Bryophyllum pinnatum has been used since the 1970s to prevent premature labour, first in anthroposophic hospitals and, more recently, also in the main Swiss perinatal centres. However, it is not known which compounds in B. pinnatum leaves contribute to the tocolytic effect. Here we studied the effects of a flavonoid-enriched fraction, the corresponding flavonoid aglycon mixture, a bufadienolide-enriched fraction, and B. pinnatum leaf press juice on human myometrial contractility in vitro. The strength (area under the curve and amplitude) and frequency of contractions were recorded using strips of human myometrium mounted in an organ bath system. Cell viability assays were performed with the human myometrium hTERT-C3 and PHM1â-â41 cell lines. Repeated addition of the flavonoid-enriched fraction, flavonoid aglycon mixture, bufadienolide-enriched fraction, or B. pinnatum leaf press juice led to a progressive decrease of contraction strength, without jeopardising the vitality of myometrium strips. The bufadienolide-enriched fraction was the most active, since 1 µg/mL of the bufadienolide-enriched fraction lowered the area under the curve to 40.1 ± 11.8% of the initial value, whereas 150 µg/mL of the flavonoid-enriched fraction, 6.2 µg/mL of the flavonoid aglycon mixture, and 10 µg/mL of the B. pinnatum leaf press juice were required to achieve comparable inhibition. A progressive increase of contraction frequency was observed, except in the case of the flavonoid aglycon mixture, which did not affect frequency. None of the test substances decreased myometrial cell viability, even at concentrations of 500 µg/mL of the flavonoid-enriched fraction, 40 µg/mL of the flavonoid aglycon mixture, 3.8 µg/mL of the bufadienolide-enriched fraction, and 75 µg/mL of the B. pinnatum leaf press juice, i.e., higher than those used in the myometrium experiments. Given the concentrations of flavonoids in the flavonoid-enriched fraction and B. pinnatum leaf press juice, and of bufadienolides in the bufadienolide-enriched fraction and B. pinnatum leaf press juice, it appears that bufadienolides may be mainly responsible for the relaxant effect.
