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Objective: This study aimed to develop an individual WeChat Mini Program to provide pharmaceutical care to better manage cancer pain patients and to evaluate its feasibility and the differences in analgesic efficacy, medication adherence and safety versus conventional pharmacy interventions. Methods: In this parallel randomized clinical trial, 42 cancer pain patients were equally allocated into the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group received individualized pharmaceutical care based on the "Yao Nin You Wo" WeChat Mini Program, while the control group received conventional care during the 4-week period. Main outcomes contained pain scores, medication adherence, incidences and relief rates of breakthrough pain, and incidences of adverse events. Relief rates of pain were also calculated according to pain scores. Results: At the beginning of intervention, none of the pain scores and medication adherence showed relevant differences between the two groups (all P > .05). After intervention, the experimental group had significantly lower pain scores compared to the control group (P = .003). Breakthrough pain of both groups was alleviate; not only the incidence of breakthrough pain considerably was lower at 4 weeks than at baseline, but the relief rate of breakthrough in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group. Compared with the control group, the medication adherence rate of the experimental group was significantly improved (P = .02). Types of adverse events that happened in experimental and groups were similar, but the total incidence of adverse events in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group. Conclusions: WeChat Mini Program is a useful and facilitative tool with the potential to improve cancer pain self-management ability in discharged patients. In addition, pharmacists could play a key role through the Mini Program to connect with patients successfully by providing personalized pharmaceutical services.
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BACKGROUND: Laboratory biosafety should be a priority in all healthcare institutions. In traditional laboratory safety teaching students typically receive knowledge passively from their teachers without active involvement. The combination of experiential learning and mobile learning may provide students with greater engagement, retention, and application of knowledge. To address this issue, we developed and conducted a convergent mixed methods study to assess the feasibility and usability of a WeChat mini program (WMP) named WeMed for laboratory biosafety education for medical laboratory students at Guangzhou Medical University (GMU). METHODS: The study was conducted between November 2022 and October 2023 among second-year undergraduate students at GMU. It involved the concurrent collection, analysis, and interpretation of both qualitative and quantitative data to assess feasibility and usability. In the quantitative strand, two evaluations were conducted via online surveys from students (n = 67) after a four-week study period. The System Usability Scale (SUS) was used to evaluate usability, while self-developed questions were used to assess feasibility. Additionally, a knowledge test was administered 6 months after the program completion. In the qualitative strand, fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted, whereby a reflexive thematic analysis was utilized to analyze the interview data. RESULTS: The overall SUS score is adequate (M = 68.17, SD = 14.39). The acceptability of the WeMed program is in the marginal high range. Most students agreed that WeMed was useful for learning biosafety knowledge and skills (13/14, 93%), while 79% (11/14) agreed it was easy to use and they intended to continue using it. After 6 months, a significant difference in the knowledge test scores was observed between the WeMed group (n = 67; 2nd year students) and the traditional training group (n = 90; 3rd year students). However, the results should be interpreted cautiously due to the absence of a pretest. CONCLUSION: The combination of experiential learning and mobile learning with WMP is a feasible tool for providing laboratory biosafety knowledge and skills. Ongoing improvements should be made in order to increase long-term acceptance.
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Students, Medical , Humans , Containment of Biohazards , Feasibility Studies , Universities , LearningABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE To construct the “school-enterprise-community” linkage community pharmaceutical care mode based on the WeChat mini program， upgrade the content and mode of community pharmaceutical care， and improve the quality of healthy life of the residents. METHODS Focusing on the pharmaceutical care needs of community residents， by integrating school， enterprise and community pharmaceutical resources， the WeChat mini program of “drug enjoying health” was created and the “online+offline” community pharmaceutical care mode was built. Using classified random sampling， mini program users were randomly selected as the observation group， and offline pair-assisted community residents as the control group. The intervention effects of the two groups were compared around the three aspects of medication health knowledge mastery， medication compliance and medication behavior. RESULTS The “drug enjoying health” mini program consisted of four modules：“ drug for health”，“ drug for warmth”，“ drug for safety”， and “personal information”. The “school-enterprise-community” linkage community pharmaceutical care mode based on the “drug enjoying health” mini program began to be applied in July 2022， with 6 185 users， 2 732 recovery records of expired drugs， 941 times of pharmaceutical care， and 3 354 consultation orders. After the intervention， the qualified rate of medication health knowledge mastery， complete compliance rate， and the correct rate of medication behavior in the observation group increased from 33.53% to 76.87%， 20.23% to 46.26%， and 49.71% to 89.80%， respectively； the proportion of the increase after the intervention was higher than that of the control group （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS This mode has effectively improved the quality of community pharmaceutical care， improves the health awareness of community residents in drug use， and promotes the standardization， rationalization and safety of residents’ drug use.
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INTRODUCTION: Smoking cessation (SC) clinics are a professional SC services in China. However, studies comparing the characteristics and SC rates of smoking populations in SC clinics with those using mobile SC programs are limited. We compared smokers' characteristics, 3-month SC rates, and the factors influencing 3-month SC success, between a large hospital SC clinic and a WeChat SC mini-program. METHODS: Between January and November 2021, 384 participants voluntarily enrolled in either the hospital SC clinic (Group A: n=243) or the WeChat SC mini-program (Group B: n=141). Both groups underwent a 3-month SC intervention, and their SC status was monitored at 24 hours, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after quitting. SC rate was defined as the self-reported rate of continuous SC. RESULTS: The 3-month SC rate was higher in Group A (42.4%) than in Group B (24.8%). Participants with middle school education had a lower likelihood of SC success than those with primary school or lower (p=0.014). Employees in the enterprise/business/services industries were more likely to have SC success than farmers (p=0.013). Participants with SC difficulty scores of 0-60 were more successful than those with scores >60 (p=0.001, p=0.000, respectively). Participants who quit smoking due to their illness, or other reasons, had a higher likelihood of SC success than those who quit due to concerns about their own and their family's health (p=0.006, p=0.098, respectively). While the likelihood of SC success was lower in those who quit because of the influence of their environment than in those who quit due to concerns about their own and their family's health (p=0.057). CONCLUSIONS: Both SC clinics and WeChat SC mini-programs achieved satisfactory SC rates. The high accessibility of mobile SC platforms, which save time spent on transportation and medical visits, renders them worth promoting and publicizing as additional SC options for smokers, particularly young smokers.
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Objective: This study sought to develop a WeChat mini-program for smoking cessation behavioral interventions (named the WQ mini-program) and evaluate its usability, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy among Chinese smokers. Methods: The WQ mini-program was designed based on behavioral change theories and clinical practice guidelines, and clinical smoking cessation experts participated in the development process. Fifty Chinese smokers and five software experts were involved in a single-arm trial. Smokers were asked to use the WQ mini-program at least once a day for 4 weeks and to complete a weekly online follow-up questionnaire. Software experts were asked to complete an online follow-up questionnaire after using all functions of the WQ mini-program. Primary outcomes were usability and acceptability of and satisfaction with the mini-program tested by the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Self-reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA) was used to evaluate its preliminary efficacy for smoking cessation. Optimization suggestions for the mini-program were collected from all participants through an open-ended question at the last follow-up and were analyzed by thematic analysis. Results: The mean SUS and MARS total scores for the WQ mini-program as evaluated by smokers were 82.1 ± 13.8 and 84.5 ± 3.3 and by software experts were 4.21 ± 0.32 and 4.27 ± 0.15, respectively. Most smokers reported being willing to recommend this mini-program to other smokers (85.4%) and would continue to use it (95.8%). The mean satisfaction score for the mini-program was 4.23 ± 0.69 (out of 5 points) among smokers. Self-reported 7-day PPA among smokers at the 4-week follow-up was 50% (25/50). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the WQ mini-program would be a feasible and potentially effective method to encourage Chinese smokers to quit smoking. However, future research is needed to confirm its efficacy through a randomized controlled trial.
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OBJECTIVE: To develop a novel cognitive screening tool for older adults in China. METHODS: "Game-based Cognitive Assessment-3 Minute Version"(G3) was designed and developed based on WeChat mini-program. And its feasibility was analyzed. RESULTS: G3 mini-program contains three one-minute mini digital games and supports users' self-assessment of cognitive functions with instant access to reports. G3 had a good correlation with Montreal Cognitive Assessment Basic (MoCA-B) with Pearson's r =0.611 (P<0.001). Among natural users aged 50 and older (71 179), the G3 initiation and completion rates were 99.55% and 92.28%, respectively. The average time to complete G3 assessments was (278.5±73.73) seconds. CONCLUSIONS: The novel G3 mini-program has good feasibility and usability for older Chinese adults, and can be used for cognitive screening and home self-assessment.
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Cognition , Feasibility Studies , Neuropsychological Tests , ChinaABSTRACT
Background: In recent years, the number of people using mobile applications to promote health and welfare has exponentially increased. However, there are fewer applications in the field of ERAS. How to promote the rapid rehabilitation of patients with malignant tumor surgery during perioperative period and the mastery of its long-term nutritional state is a problem to be solved. Objective: The purpose of this study is to design and develop a mobile application, and use Internet technology to better manage nutritional health to achieve rapid recovery of patients with malignant tumor surgery. Methods: This study is divided into three stages: (1) Design: use participating design to make the MHEALTH APP adapt to the clinical practice of nutritional health management; (2) Development: the WeChat Applet of Nutrition and Health Assessment (WANHA) developed using the Internet technology development, and web management programs. (3) Procedure test: patients and medical staff evaluate WANHA's quality (UMARS), availability (SUS), and satisfaction, and conduct semi-structured interviews. Results: In this study, 192 patients with malignant tumor surgery, 20 medical staff used WANHA. Patients with nutritional risks are supported by supporting treatment. The results show that patients who have not been treated during the perioperative period, the incidence of postoperative complications (22.4%) and the average hospitalization time after surgery decreased significantly. The incidence of nutritional risks is nearly more than the preoperative level. 45 patients and 20 medical staff participated in the survey of WANHA's SUS, UMARS, and satisfaction. In the interview, most patients and medical personnel believe that the procedure can improve the current medical services and nutritional health knowledge levels, promote the communication of medical staff and patients, and strengthen the nutritional health management of patients with malignant tumors under the concept of ERAS. Conclusion: WeChat Applet of Nutrition and Health Assessment is a MHEALTH APP that enhances the nutrition and health management of patients with perioperative period. It can play a huge role in improving medical services, increasing patient satisfaction, and ERAS.
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INTRODUCTION: Many smokers in China desire to quit, though the success rate among adults is low. This study evaluated the effects of QuitAction, a WeChat smoking cessation platform, summarized the intervention experience of the smoking cessation platform, identified aspects of the platform that necessitated improvement, and provided references for further optimization of the smoking cessation platform. METHODS: This single-arm study was conducted in Hunan, China, from September 2020 to October 2021. Regular smokers, who were aged ≥15 years and willing to quit smoking using QuitAction, were recruited. An in-application questionnaire evaluated participants' baseline smoking status and intention to quit smoking. The QuitAction program included questionnaires regarding the participants' ongoing smoking cessation status at 24 hours, one week, one month and three months after quitting. The smoking cessation procedure was discontinued if the participant had no intention of continuing. The smoking cessation rate, influencing success factors, frequency of use satisfaction, and helpfulness of QuitAction were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 303 participants registered and logged into the QuitAction program, including 59 with incomplete information and 64 with no intention of quitting. The study finally included 180 participants. The smoking cessation rate was 33.9% at 24 hours, 27.2% at one week, 26.1% at one month, and 25.0% at three months. QuitAction was reported as helpful by 94.9% of participants and 95.7% were satisfied with the program. Participants with a quitting difficulty score of 80-100 were less likely to quit smoking than participants with a difficulty score of 0-60 (OR=0.28; 95% CI: 0.10-0.78; p=0.015). Participants using the platform ≥5 times were more likely to quit smoking than those who used the platform <5 times (OR=3.59; 95% CI: 1.51-8.52; p=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The QuitAction platform provides smoking cessation services that can improve smokers' success rate and improve user experience satisfaction.
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OBJECTIVE@#To develop a novel cognitive screening tool for older adults in China.@*METHODS@#"Game-based Cognitive Assessment-3 Minute Version"(G3) was designed and developed based on WeChat mini-program. And its feasibility was analyzed.@*RESULTS@#G3 mini-program contains three one-minute mini digital games and supports users' self-assessment of cognitive functions with instant access to reports. G3 had a good correlation with Montreal Cognitive Assessment Basic (MoCA-B) with Pearson's r =0.611 (P<0.001). Among natural users aged 50 and older (71 179), the G3 initiation and completion rates were 99.55% and 92.28%, respectively. The average time to complete G3 assessments was (278.5±73.73) seconds.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The novel G3 mini-program has good feasibility and usability for older Chinese adults, and can be used for cognitive screening and home self-assessment.
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Feasibility Studies , Neuropsychological Tests , Cognition , ChinaABSTRACT
Objective: We investigated changes in maternal daily milk pumping frequency and milk volume per expression and their derived lactation indicators, as well as human milk (HM) feeding status with a focus on amount and rates in preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after using a WeChat mini-program during the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: The study was conducted with 482 mothers and their 544 babies. We prospectively enrolled mothers and infants with birth weight <1,500 g or gestational age <32 weeks born in 2020, and retrospectively included the same population in 2019. All study subjects were classified into three subgroups: pre-pandemic (PP, 2019), early pandemic (EP, January to April 2020), and late pandemic (LP, May to December 2020). From 1 January 2020, mothers recorded in an online pumping diary using the WeChat mini-program. We obtained the infants' feeding information from an online database for analysis. Results: Maternal lactation indicators did not change significantly. However, 56.7% (139/245) of mothers achieved milk volume ≥500 ml/day (CTV) in PP, 58.9% (33/156) in EP, and a slight increase to 60.7% (91/150) in LP. Maternal pumping frequency remained about eight times/day. In LP, daily milk volume was higher than the other two periods from day 4, and mothers achieved CTV by day 12, which was achieved in the other two groups by 13-14 days. There were several statistical differences in the amount and rates of feeding between the groups, particularly about HM and donor milk feeding, with the vast majority being decreased during EP, while during LP they returned to PP levels. Pleasingly, the median average daily dose of HM at 1-28 days was highest in LP (LP, 87.8 vs. PP, 75.5 or EP, 52.6 ml/kg/day, P corrected < 0.001). In addition, most categorical feeding indicators decreased in EP and recovered in LP. Conclusion: An education model based on the WeChat program could aid lactation education and management in mothers of preterm infants to maintain healthy lactation. The model, together with optimized management strategies, can ensure that the HM feeding rate is not compromised in vulnerable high-risk infants during NICU hospitalization in a public health emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Brief therapy for insomnia (BTI) is a short-term cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. At present, there is no study combining BTI with digital technology. However, in the context of the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), patients with acute insomnia may need an online treatment which can quickly improve insomnia symptoms. Our team built a digital BTI (dBTI) platform based on the WeChat mini program. This research provides a framework design and a course design of dBTI, and evaluates the system via recruiting participants suffering from acute insomnia in pandemic. What's more, it explores patients' adherence, the efficiency of the system and their relationship. As the result demonstrates, 68% of participants have completed more than half of the course with medium to high adherence. Gender, pre-sleep arousal scale (PSAS) somatic score and insomnia severity index (ISI) score have affected participants' adherence, and higher adherence has led to better improvement in the severity of insomnia and somatic pre-sleep arousal. It is proved that the platform we built is effective, which not only offers an entry point for the study of how to set up a dBTI platform, but also provides theoretical basis for its clinical application.
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COVID-19 , Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders , Arousal , COVID-19/therapy , Humans , Pandemics , Sleep , Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/therapy , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Background: Cardiac rehabilitation programs aim to avoid further progression and relapse of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Patients with CVDs undergoing rehabilitation often experience difficulties in integrating and transferring the learned health behaviors into their daily life after returning home. This includes regular physical activity (PA) and sufficient fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC). eHealth individualized interventions have shown to be effective in increasing PA and FVC in home settings. As WeChat is the most popular social media site in China, this should be used for the intervention. The aim of this study is to develop and examine a WeChat mini program-based intervention on PA and FVC promotion among Chinese cardiovascular patients in home-based rehabilitation. Methods: The study will adopt a randomized controlled trial (RCT), comprising a WeChat mini program-based intervention group and a waiting-list control group. The intervention content will be designed based on the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA). One hundred fifty-eight outpatients will be recruited from the cardiac rehabilitation center of a hospital in southern China and randomly assigned to one of the two groups. During the 10-week duration of the intervention, participants will be invited to access a WeChat mini program comprising two Modules. Module 1 provides weekly learning sessions addressing PA and FVC simultaneously for 10 weeks. Module 2 provides a platform, where participants can review their progress with Module 1 at any time and attend incentive activities aiming at promoting engagement and retention. The outcome variables include PA (mins/week), FVC (portion/day), healthy lifestyle (the synthesis of PA and FVC), social-cognitive predictors of behavior change (risk perception, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, intention, planning, social support, and action control) as well as health outcomes (Body mass index, depression, and quality of life). Data collection will be implemented at pre-test, post-test and a post-test after 3-month respectively. Discussion: The current study will be significant to understand how such a cost-effective social media mini program-based intervention enables participants to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle. If it is effective, it will enrich home-based cardiac rehabilitation approaches which can in turn save the lives of patients as well as much monetary, time and other investments. Trial Registration: The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03636724; Last update posted: July 28, 2020).
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Cardiac Rehabilitation , Vegetables , China , Exercise , Fruit , Humans , Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the effect of WeChat mini program in immunotherapy management of pediatric patients with combined allergic rhinitis and asthma syndrome (CARAS).Methods:Using the convenient sampling method, 101 children with CARAS who received sublingual immunotherapy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2019 to January 2020 were selected as the research objects. The standardized management team of immunotherapy clinic was established. The newly developed specific immunotherapy Wechat applet was used to establish a new model of nurse-patient interaction and communication. The disease knowledge was regularly pushed, medication reminder, nurse telephone intervention and other standardized management were delivered through the Wechat applet to implement continuous nursing for children. The effects of this management model on medication compliance, rhinitis symptoms and asthma control were analyzed.Results:A total of 101 children were included in this study, 3 cases were lost to follow-up, and a total of 98 cases completed the study. After 12 months of intervention, the drug possession score of dust mite drops increased from (83.43±3.68) to (91.78±3.71), the symptom score of allergic rhinitis decreased from (5.83±1.32) to (1.94±0.98), and the score of asthma test questionnaire increased from (18.12±3.99) to (24.97±3.09), the proportion of children with complete control of asthma increased from 48.0% to 90.8%, and the proportion of children without control of asthma decreased from 10.2% to 1.0% (all P<0.05). Conclusion:The immunotherapy management of pediatric patients with combined allergic rhinitis and asthma syndrome based on WeChat mini program can effectively improve the compliance of children and their family, improve the control level of allergic rhinitis and asthma.
