Effects of mhealth applications on military personnel's physical and mental health: A systematic review.

This systematic review examined the effects of mobile health (mHealth) apps on the physical and mental health outcomes of military personnel. Fourteen studies (10 RCTs, 4 non-RCTs) published between 2000 and 2022 were included. While app-based interventions did not significantly improve clinical outcomes like HbA1c and blood pressure, they showed a statistically significant reduction in symptom severity of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms (PTSD), depression, and insomnia. Patients expressed satisfaction with the apps, though statistical significance was not reported. In addition to alleviating mental health symptoms, mHealth apps appear widely accepted by military personnel. Development and implementation of evidence-based mental health apps by healthcare professionals are recommended.

Improving asthma control and quality of life via a smartphone self-management app: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Mobile phone applications (apps) show promise for enhancing asthma self-management, but their effectiveness varies. This study examined the effect of a smartphone asthma app on asthma control and quality of life. METHODS: Using block randomization, 60 patients with asthma were allocated to an intervention group (n = 30) or control group (n = 30) for this single-blind randomized controlled trial. At baseline, both groups completed the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire-Marks (AQLQ-M). The intervention group used a smartphone-based asthma self-management app plus their regular treatment, while the control group received only usual care. Follow-up ACT and AQLQ-M assessments occurred at 3 and 6 months. SPSS version 26 was used for analysis, including descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests (Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U), and analysis of variance with repeated measurements. RESULTS: Both groups showed improved asthma control and quality of life at 3 and 6 months compared to baseline. However, after 6 months the intervention group had significantly greater improvement than controls (p < 0.05). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed divergent changes in ACT and AQLQ-M scores over time, with the intervention group demonstrating greater enhancement of asthma control and quality of life (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that use of a smartphone-based asthma self-management app improved asthma control and quality of life after 6 months compared to usual care alone. These findings indicate that guideline-based asthma apps can positively impact outcomes.

Pregnant women's use and attitude toward Mobile phone features for self-management.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine the current use of mobile phones by pregnant women and their attitudes towards the use of a variety of prenatal care services through mHealth. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran in 2021. The study population included 168 pregnant women who referred to specialist obstetrics and gynecology clinic. The data collection tool was a questionnaire that included the demographics of the participants, their current mobile phone usage, and their attitudes toward mobile phone use for prenatal care services. The data were analyzed in SPSS with descriptive and analytical statistics. RESULTS: The majority of participants (84.2%) had a smartphone and access to mobile internet. More than half of the respondents (58.9%) used their mobile phone for (only) phone calls, and 36.7% occasionally used mobile internet to access prenatal care services. To get information about the pregnancy and to communicate with other pregnant women, the participants mainly used social media, and to get reminders, they preferred phone calls. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, pregnant women have a positive attitude towards using mobile phones for obtaining health services and prefer social media to seek prenatal care services. There seems to be a need for pregnant women to have high levels of digital health literacy and be advised by healthcare providers on using this technology to access prenatal care services.

Potential Drug-Drug Interactions in a Cardiac Center: Development of Simple Software for Pattern Identification.

Background: Patients with cardiovascular disorders (CVD) are at higher risk for potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) due to complex treatment regimens. This study aimed to evaluate pDDI patterns in physicians' prescriptions in a specialized heart center using simple software. Methods: This cross-sectional study identified severe and related interactions during a 2-stage survey of experts. The data collected included age, sex, the date of admission and discharge, the length of hospital stay, drug names, inpatient wards, and the final diagnosis. The extracted drug interactions were used as a source of software knowledge. The software was designed using the SQL Server and the C # programming language. Results: Of 24 875 patients included in the study, 14 695 (59.1%) were male. The average age was 62 years. Based on the survey of experts, only 57 pairs of severe pDDIs were identified. The designed software evaluated 185 516 prescriptions. The incidence of pDDIs was 10.5%. The average number of prescriptions per patient was 7.5. The highest frequency of pDDIs was detected in patients with lymphatic system disorders (15.0%). Aspirin with heparin (14.3%) and heparin with clopidogrel (11.7%) were the most common documented pDDIs. Conclusion: This study reports the prevalence of pDDIs in a cardiac center. Patients with lymphatic system disorders, male patients, and older patients were at higher risk of pDDIs. This study shows that pDDIs are common among CVD patients and highlights the need to use computer software to screen patients' prescriptions to assist in detection and prevention.

Information technology interventions to improve antibiotic prescribing for patients with acute respiratory infection: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: Information technology (IT) interventions provide physicians with easy and quick access to information at the point of care and can play a major role in clinical decision-making for antibiotic prescribing. This study aimed to examine the effects and characteristics of IT interventions on improving antibiotic prescribing for patients with acute respiratory infection (ARI). METHODS: A comprehensive search was performed in Medline (through PubMed), ISI web of science, Embase, and Cochrane databases from inception to 31 August 2020. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) and cluster RCT (CRCT) studies examining the effectiveness of IT interventions in improving antibiotic prescribing for patients with ARI were included. Participants were patients with ARI. IT interventions were used for improving antibiotic prescribing. Two researchers independently extracted data from studies on methods, characteristics of interventions, and results. The characteristics of interventions were extracted based on three dimensions of IT design, data entry source, and implementation characteristics. RESULTS: Eighteen studies (15 CRCTs and three RCTs) were included. Most of included studies (n = 11) were conducted in the United States. In 12 studies (66.7%), IT interventions improved the level of antibiotic prescribing, and in eight of the 12 studies the effect was statistically significant. In two studies the intervention had a statistically significant negative effect, and in two studies the level of antibiotic prescribing was not changed. Seventeen studies (94.4%) used clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) for the intervention. In 12 studies (66.7%) CDSSs were integrated with electronic health records (EHRs). CONCLUSIONS: Information technology interventions have the potential to improve prescription of antibiotics for patients with acute respiratory infection and to change physicians' behaviours in this regard. Factors affecting the acceptance of IT-based interventions to improve prescription of antibiotics should be investigated in future studies.

The use of mobile phone functionalities by patients with asthma and their desire to use for self-care purposes.

BACKGROUND: Mobile health (mHealth) has good potential for promoting self-care in patients suffering from chronic diseases. The patients' positive attitude toward this technology is a key factor for the successful implementation. The present study was conducted to investigate the asthma patients' use of mobile phone functionalities and their desire to receive self-care services through this technology. METHODS: This survey study was conducted in Iran in 2018. The study population consisted of 146 patients suffering from asthma. The data collection tool was a questionnaire containing items on the demographic characteristics of patients, current use of mobile phone functionalities, and desire to use them for receiving self-care services. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. RESULTS: Out of the 160 questionnaires distributed, 146 (91.25%) were completed. The majority of the participants had smartphones (84.9%). Less than half of the participants occasionally used mobile phone functionalities including mobile phone calls (42.5%) and mobile Internet (40.4%) to receive asthma-related information. A significant number of the participants had never used smartphone applications (72.6%) and E-mail (66.4%) to receive asthma-related information. The participants had their greatest use of Internet search, followed by social media, to receive information about asthma symptoms, allergenic and irritating substances, medicinal therapy, and how to use therapy aids. The participants were most willing to use social media for receiving asthma information, communicating with other patients, receiving reminders about doctor's appointment, and receiving warnings about the lack of asthma control. CONCLUSION: In Iran as a developing country, asthma patients use Internet search mostly to receive instructional information and are willing to use social media rather than other mobile phone functionalities to receive self-care services. These patients believe that mobile phones are appropriate for receiving instructional information and reminders.

Phone-based interventions to control gestational weight gain: a systematic review on features and effects.

Objective: The aim of this study was to summarize the evidence regarding the effects and the features of phone-based interventions to control gestational weight gain (GWG).Methods: We included studies that evaluated the effects of phone-based interventions on controlling GWG. The characteristics of studies, effects, and features of interventions were extracted.Results: A total of 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. Outcomes were categorized into three groups (GWG control, proportion of women returning to pre-pregnancy weight, and proportion of women who exceeded the Institute of Medicine recommendations for GWG). Although most studies (66%) showed a statistically significant positive effect of phone-based interventions on the GWG control, the effects on the other outcome categories were found to be inconsistent. While the included studies used phone call and short messaging service (SMS), no study used the other functions of telephones and mobile phones such as video call, internet access, social networks, and smartphone applications. Regarding the functionalities, phone calls were used to provide guidance for healthy weight gain and communication with healthcare providers. SMS provided reminders, educational materials, and guidance.Conclusion: Phone-based interventions can help pregnant women control GWG by providing guidance, reminders, and educational materials. When these interventions use multiple functionalities, they are more effective in controlling GWG.

Enhancing Asthma Patients' Self-Management through Smartphone-Based Application: Design, Usability Evaluation, and Educational Intervention.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to design and evaluate a smartphone-based application for improving self-management in patients with asthma and evaluate its effects on their knowledge. METHODS: In this applied research, based on the Clinical Practice Guideline and a systematic review, a questionnaire was designed to determine the application information content and functionality requirements by 15 pediatric and adult asthma and allergy specialist. Then the application was designed and developed using Adobe Air software on the Android operating system. Usability evaluation of the mobile application was performed using the standard questionnaire for user interaction satisfaction (QUIS), which completed by 30 patients with asthma, 8 information technology (IT) specialists, and 2 asthma and allergy specialists. Self-management knowledge of 30 asthma patients was measured using a researcher-made questionnaire before and after using the application. RESULTS: The number of specialists in the both Delphi rounds was 15 and the mean work experiences were 17.6 years. The most important elements for asthma self-management were avoiding exposure to allergen and triggers (96%), drug treatment (94.6%), and how to use the therapeutic tools (92.4%), and the most important functionalities were alerting the patients when they did not control asthma (92%), setting reminders for timely drug use (85.4%) and therapeutic tools (82.6%), recording prescription drugs (82.6%), and peak flow meter values (82%). Usability evaluation showed that 30 patients with asthma, 8 IT specialists, and 2 physicians evaluated the application at a "good" level. The mean score of the patients' knowledge before intervention was 2.43 ± 0.95 which after intervention was significantly increased to 4.3 ± 0.56 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Considering the desirable outcomes of application evaluation and a positive impact of this educational intervention on asthma patients' knowledge, it is possible to use mobile-based self-management programs to help these patients to manage illness and gain knowledge and self-management skills.

Patient Self-Management of Asthma Using Mobile Health Applications: A Systematic Review of the Functionalities and Effects.

Objective The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence regarding the effects of mobile health applications (mHealth apps) for self-management outcomes in patients with asthma and to assess the functionalities of effective interventions. Methods We systematically searched Medline, Scopus, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We included English-language studies that evaluated the effects of smartphone or tablet computer apps on self-management outcomes in asthmatic patients. The characteristics of these studies, effects of interventions, and features of mHealth apps were extracted. Results A total of 10 studies met all the inclusion criteria. Outcomes that were assessed in the included studies were categorized into three groups (clinical, patient-reported, and economic). mHealth apps improved asthma control (five studies) and lung function (two studies) from the clinical outcomes. From the patient-reported outcomes, quality of life (three studies) was statistically significantly improved, while there was no significant impact on self-efficacy scores (two studies). Effects on economic outcomes were equivocal, so that the number of visits (in two studies) and admission and hospitalization-relevant outcomes (in one study) statistically significantly improved; and in four other studies, these outcomes did not improve significantly. mHealth apps features were categorized into seven categories (inform, instruct, record, display, guide, remind/alert, and communicate). Eight of the 10 mHealth apps included more than one functionality. Nearly all interventions had the functionality of recording user-entered data and half of them had the functionality of providing educational information and reminders to patients. Conclusion Multifunctional mHealth apps have good potential in the control of asthma and in improving the quality of life in such patients compared with traditional interventions. Further studies are needed to identify the effectiveness of these interventions on outcomes related to medication adherence and costs.