[Problematic Use of Internet and Video Games in Students in Medicine]. / Utilisation problématique d'Internet et des jeux vidéo chez des étudiants en médecine.

Dependence on the Internet and video games would have an impact on academic performance and mental health.Objective Highlight some of the interest factors in a first-year medical student population who will be subjected during their studies and future to the intensive use of these technologies.Method A self-questionnaire was proposed, from a free access link from February to March 2014, to all first-year medical students at the University of Namur in Belgium. It consisted of questions related to socio-demographic data, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS 14), the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Problem Video Game Playing (PVP) and the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS).Results According to the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), 1% of the students are addicted to the Internet and 24,4% have occasional problematic use. According to Problem Video Game Playing (PVP), 11,4% of the students playing video games are problem gamblers. The data also show significantly higher scores for problematic use of the Internet and video games among stressed students, depressed students and those with poor academic performance.Conclusion We draw attention to the necessary debate between the rational use and the problematic use of new technologies as well as the need for longitudinal prevention from the beginning of studies.

Patient Participation and the Use of Ehealth Tools for Pharmacoviligance.

In recent years, pharmacovigilance has undergone some major changes. First, the patient's active role in identifying and describing adverse drug reactions (ADRs) has gained recognition. Second, pharmacovigilance has increasingly incorporated information and communications technology (ICT). Patients can now upload their own reports of ADRs online. Data on intensive medication monitoring are now collected via the Internet and smartphones. Worldwide collection of AEs using smart phones might become the leading technique in Low and Middle Income Countries where broad mobile phone service can be managed cheaper than Internet communication. At the same time, researchers are exploring the potential for data sharing via online forums and Internet search engines. In particular we synthetize the Pros and cons of the various methods for gathering pharmacovigilance data (i.e., Web-based spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions; Intensive drug monitoring studies; Analysis of online forum postings; Use of mobile phone systems to monitor drug effects). This article describes these advances and highlights their respective contributions.

Adolescent mothers' perspectives regarding their own psychosocial and health needs: a qualitative exploratory study in Belgium.

OBJECTIVES: We looked at early pregnancy and parenthood as an opportunity to broaden our understanding of the reproductive health education needs met by adolescent girls. METHODS: We conducted an in-depth interview study with 12 adolescent mothers. RESULTS: To become a mother at a young age was perceived as meaningful to all the participants. The participants expressed a need to be addressed as adult parents, who want the best for their child. A variety of psychosocial and health needs emerged over a time span ranging from starting to be sexually active to after the child was born. Social isolation was found to be an important factor of vulnerability. CONCLUSION: The health needs of adolescent mothers extend well beyond counselling around the decision to continue or terminate pregnancy, and subsequent information on contraception methods to avoid further pregnancies. Adolescent mothers need to be supported in their transition to parenthood, and special care should be provided to girls who are socially isolated. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: We identified several avenues for health education and counselling to adolescent mothers, from primary prevention to reduce incidence of early pregnancies to tertiary prevention to reduce negative health outcomes for both mother and child.

Pragmatic skills in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease: an analysis by means of a referential communication task.

BACKGROUND: Disordered discourse in cases of senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) has mainly been described in conversation and picture description tasks. The referential communication task provides researchers and clinicians with new insights on the nature of these disorders. AIMS: To study to what extent persons suffering from DAT can benefit from shared experience through trial repetition to achieve common reference. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Thirteen persons suffering from DAT at minimal or mild stage (MMSE score range = 18-27) were compared with 13 healthy elderly adults (64-86 years) in neuropsychological assessment of executive functions and in a referential communication paradigm. To study how the two partners achieve mutual understanding by progressively elaborating a common ground, the task was repeated three times. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Persons with DAT produced a larger number of words than control participants and they benefited from the task repetition. However, they were less able to take into account previously shared information, used no definite referential expressions and were more idiosyncratic in their descriptions of the referent. This decline of communicative effectiveness was found not to relate closely to executive deficits. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative exchanges allow healthy elderly persons to ground reference in common experience. This process is severely disturbed in persons with DAT, in relation to poor memory of preceding episodes or to other cognitive impairments.