Evolution of Primary Research Studies in Digital Interventions for Mental Well-Being Promotion from 2004 to 2023: A Bibliometric Analysis of Studies on the Web of Science.

Research into digital interventions for mental well-being promotion has grown in recent years, fuelled by the need to improve mental health prevention strategies and respond to challenges arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This bibliometric analysis provides a structured overview of publication trends and themes in primary research studies reporting an array of digital interventions indexed at WoS from 2004 to 2023. Bibliometric data were collected on a sample of 1117 documents and analysed using the Biblioshiny package. Supplemental network visualisation analysis was conducted using VosViewer. The study, based on Web of Science and Scopus databases, indicates a marked increase in publications post-2020. There were seven groups of research themes clustered around "Mindfulness", "Anxiety", "COVID-19", "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy", "Depression", "Web-based", and "Positive Psychology". Further, results demonstrated the growth of specific themes (e.g., mindfulness, mhealth), the defining impact of COVID-19 studies, and the importance of both randomised controlled trials and formative research. Overall, research in the field is still early in its development and is expected to continue to grow. Findings highlight the field's dynamic response to societal and technological changes, suggesting a future trajectory that leans increasingly on digital platforms for mental health promotion and intervention. Finally, study limitations and implications for future studies are discussed.

A Pilot Study Evaluating a Virtual Reality-Based Nontechnical Skills Training Application for Urology Trainees: Usability, Acceptability, and Impact.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a virtual reality (VR)-based nontechnical skills (NTS) training application for urology trainees and assess its effectiveness in improving their skills and confidence. DESIGN: A mixed-methods study was conducted to develop and evaluate a VR-based NTS training application for 32 urology trainees. The development process involved collaboration with 5 urology experts, 2 medical education specialists, and a human factors researcher. The study evaluated the application's usability, acceptability, and efficacy through 3 phases: scenario development with expert feedback integration, storyboarding and creation processes with facilitators and urology trainees, and a final evaluation by trainees. SETTING: The data were collected during a 4-day urology boot camp in October 2022. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two urology trainees participated in the study and completed 2 VR scenarios designed to enhance their NTS skills RESULTS: The System Usability Scale (SUS) showed a moderate usability score of 66. The Training Evaluation Inventory (TEI) and additional feedback demonstrated positive effects on trainees' learning and confidence in their NTS abilities. Most participants found the application easy to use, and effective and they expressed interest in using similar VR applications for other aspects of surgical training. CONCLUSIONS: VR-based NTS training applications show potential for enhancing urology trainees' nontechnical skills. The integration of expert feedback and immersive technology offers a promising, accessible, and cost-effective solution to the challenges of delivering NTS training. Future research should explore the long-term impact of VR-based NTS training on trainees' performance and patient outcomes and consider incorporating advanced AI technologies for personalized and dynamic learning experiences.

Bibliometric Analysis of Chatbots in Health-Trend Shifts and Advancements in Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Conversational Agents.

Bibliometric analysis provides a summary for research reported in scientific literature. This can highlight pattens and trends in academic research areas, and assist in research directions. Recent growing requirements for efficient communications and increased user learning needs in the health domain, has instigated mass exploitation of chatbots. 2148 documents were analysed to show a shift in research focus around the year 2016. The rate of documents produced in the last few years is more than the collective 20 year period, and future outputs may soar. The emergence of machine and deep learning technology with chatbot usage suggested research opportunity to be exploited in techniques which embed advanced AI abilities. Key authors still spearhead the research direction but a new wave of outputs will further disperse topics into advanced techniques such as personalised disease detections and sophisticated interface that significantly mask any artificiality to their composition.

The Future of Immersive Technology in Global Surgery Education.

The second wave of immersive reality technology is required that enhances and exploits current applications, empirical evidence and worldwide interest. If this is successful, low- and middle-income countries will have improved access, less costs and reduced practical limitations. Affordability, availability, accessibility and appropriateness are determinates, and help from several innovative areas can achieve these targets. Artificial intelligence will allow autonomous support of trainees to accelerate their skills when interacting on mobile applications, as deep learning algorithms will generate models that identify data and patterns within them and provide feedback much like a human educator. Future immersive content needs to be high quality, tailored to the learners' needs and created with minimal time and expenses. The co-creation process involves the integration of learners into the entire development process and a single learning goal can be identified that will have high reusability to surgical students. Sustainability of the material is ensured in the design stage leading to increased cost-effectiveness benefits. One framework has a proven high impact on the co-design of healthcare resources and is discussed. The connectivity of future immersive technology resources has been a major obstacle between regions in their uptake. A handful of collaboration platforms have been created that can deliver immersive content and experiences; the spearhead in this area will be from augmented reality and telesurgery. Opportunity for powerful, large-scale data culture via blockchain collaboration will be an emerging theme that will also drive towards affordability, availability, accessibility and appropriateness in the future global landscape of immersive technology in surgical education.

The impact of sitting time and physical activity on mental health during COVID-19 lockdown.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between physical activity (PA) and sitting time on adults' mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety and wellbeing) and the influence of mediators and confounders. Methods: An online survey was disseminated in the UK between May and June 2020. A total of 284 participants (33.5 ± 12.4 years) self-reported their PA, sitting time and mental health through validated questionnaires. Results: Multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that being of younger age, female, on a lower income, with one or more comorbid health conditions, with a previous diagnosis of mood disorder and increased sitting time independently correlated with higher depression scores (F (13,219) = 12.31, p < 0.001), and explained 42% of the variance. Similar results were found for wellbeing where socio-demographic, health outcomes and sitting time influenced the subjective wellbeing (F (14,218) = 5.77, p < 0.001, 27% variance), although only socio-demographic and health outcomes contributed to the variation in anxiety score (F (13,219) = 7.84, p < 0.001, 32% variance). PA did not explain variation when sitting time was taken into account in any of the models. Combined analysis revealed that participants with lower sedentary time (< 8 h) and with both low or moderate and high PA presented a significantly lower depression score [low PA: (B = -2.7, 95% CI -4.88, -0.52); moderate and high PA (B = -2.7, -4.88, -0.52)]. Conclusion: Sitting time was strongly associated with adverse mental health during COVID-19 lockdown and should be considered in future public health recommendations.

Repurposing Case-Based Learning to a Conversational Agent for Healthcare Cybersecurity.

A crucial factor for successful cybersecurity education is how information is communicated to learners. Case-based learning of common cybersecurity issues has been shown to improve human behaviour for prevention. However, some delivery methods prevent realistic critical appraisal and reflection of awareness. Conversational agents can scaffold healthcare workers' understanding and promote deterrence strategies. The challenges of repurposing material to create a case-based agent were explored, and the ASPIRE process was modified. Heuristic evaluation from 10 experts in innovative educational technology resulted in the desired outcomes of usability, however Natural Language Understanding improvements were needed. Discussion of best practice when repurposing into conversational agents suggested modification of the ASPIRE process is feasible for future use.

Capturing the non-technical skills of a technical skills trainer (NTS-TeST) during simulation.

OBJECTIVE: To develop an assessment instrument that can be used as a comprehensive feedback record to convey to a trainer the non-technical aspects of skill acquisition and training. METHODS: The instrument was developed across three rounds. In Round 1, 6 endourological consultants undertook a modified Delphi process. Round 2 included 10 trainers who assessed each question's relevance and practicability. Round 3 involved a pilot study with fifteen urology residents who participated in a technical skills simulation session with the incorporation of the instrument. We report the content, face, and construct validity, and the internal consistency of an NTS instrument for trainers. RESULTS: The instrument had a consistent and a high positive average for each of the 4 sections of the instrument, regardless of the type of user. Positive Spearman's correlation coefficients (0.02 to .64) for content validity and Cronbach's alpha (a = 0.70) indicated good validity and moderate reliability of the instrument. CONCLUSION: We propose a novel NTS instrument for trainers during a simulation. This instrument can be used for benchmarking the quality of technical skills simulation training.

Role of immersive technologies in healthcare education during the COVID-19 epidemic.

The unparalleled epidemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), during early December 2019 in Wuhan, China, has rapidly evolved into a global pandemic, became a matter of grave concern. The pandemic presented a unique challenge to government agencies worldwide. The paucity of resources and lack of knowledges to manage the pandemic, coupled with the fear of future consequences has established the need for adoption of emerging and future technologies to address the upcoming challenges. With introduction of measures to control the pandemic, trainees will see a dramatic decline in their in-person exposure to all aspects of their education, with no clear endpoint. This presents an extreme challenge for educators and, given the rapidly evolving situation, there have not yet been training authorities recommendations. We propose several innovative solutions to deliver medical education while maintaining the safety of residents and educators.

Effectiveness of Immersive Virtual Reality in Surgical Training-A Randomized Control Trial.

PURPOSE: Surgical training methods are evolving with the technological advancements, including the application of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality. However, 28 to 40% of novice residents are not confident in performing a major surgical procedure. VR surgery, an immersive VR (iVR) experience, was developed using Oculus Rift and Leap Motion devices (Leap Motion, Inc, San Francisco, CA) to address this challenge. Our iVR is a multisensory, holistic surgical training application that demonstrates a maxillofacial surgical technique, the Le Fort I osteotomy. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of using VR surgery on the self-confidence and knowledge of surgical residents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multisite, single-blind, parallel, randomized controlled trial (RCT) was performed. The participants were novice surgical residents with limited experience in performing the Le Fort I osteotomy. The primary outcome measures were the self-assessment scores of trainee confidence using a Likert scale and an objective assessment of the cognitive skills. Ninety-five residents from 7 dental schools were included in the RCT. The participants were randomly divided into a study group of 51 residents and a control group of 44. Participants in the study group used the VR surgery application on an Oculus Rift with Leap Motion device. The control group participants used similar content in a standard PowerPoint presentation on a laptop. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance was applied to the data to assess the overall effect of the intervention on the confidence of the residents. RESULTS: The study group participants showed significantly greater perceived self-confidence levels compared with those in the control group (P = .034; α = 0.05). Novices in the first year of their training showed the greatest improvement in their confidence compared with those in their second and third year. CONCLUSIONS: iVR experiences improve the knowledge and self-confidence of the surgical residents.