RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Internet medical treatment, also known as telemedicine, represents a paradigm shift in health care delivery. This contactless model allows patients to seek medical advice remotely, often before they physically visit a doctor's clinic. Herein, physicians are in a relatively passive position, as patients browse and choose their health care providers. Although a wealth of experience is undoubtedly a draw for many patients, it remains unclear which specific facets of a doctor's credentials and accomplishments patients prioritize during their selection process. OBJECTIVE: Our primary aim is to delve deeper into the correlation between physicians' static characteristics-such as their qualifications, experiences, and profiles on the internet-and the number of patient visits they receive. We seek to achieve this by analyzing comprehensive internet hospital data from public hospitals. Furthermore, we aim to offer insights into how doctors can present themselves more effectively on web-based platforms, thereby attracting more patients and improving overall patient satisfaction. METHODS: We retrospectively gathered web-based diagnosis and treatment data from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University in 2023. These data underwent rigorous analysis, encompassing basic descriptive statistics, correlation analyses between key factors in doctors' internet-based introductions, and the number of patient consultation visits. Additionally, we conducted subgroup analyses to ascertain the independence of these vital factors. To further distill the essence from these data, we used nonnegative matrix factorization to identify crucial demographic characteristics that significantly impact patient choice. RESULTS: The statistical results suggested that there were significant differences in the distribution of consultation volume (P<.001), and the correlation analysis results suggested that there was a strong correlation between the two groups of data (ρ=0.93; P<.001). There was a correlation between the richness of a profile and popularity (P<.001). Patients were more interested in physicians with advanced titles, doctoral degrees, social activities, and scientific achievements (P<.001) as well as other institutional visit experiences (P=.003). More prosperous social activities, scientific achievements, experiences of other institutional visits, and awards were more common among people with advanced professional titles. Doctoral degrees remained attractive to patients when data were limited to senior physicians (P<.001). Patients trusted the medical staff with advanced titles, social activities, scientific achievements, and doctoral degrees (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patient preferences for choosing a health care provider differed significantly between free and paid consultations. Notably, patients tended to trust doctors with advanced professional titles more and were more likely to seek out those with doctoral qualifications over other professional ranks. Additionally, physicians who actively participated in social events and scientific endeavors often had an advantage in attracting new patients. Given these insights, doctors who invest in enhancing their personal and professional experiences within these domains are likely to see increased popularity and patient satisfaction.
RESUMO
The avascular structure and lack of regenerative cells make the repair of osteochondral defects in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) highly challenging in the clinic. To provide a viable treatment option, we developed a methacrylated gelatin (Gel-MA) hydrogel functionalized with human salivary histatin-1 (Hst1). Gel-MA is highly biocompatible, biodegradable, and cost-effective. Hst1 is capable of activating a series of cell activities, such as adhesion, migration, differentiation, and angiogenesis. To evaluate the efficacy of Hst1/Gel-MA, critical-size osteochondral defects (3 mm in diameter and 3 mm in depth) of TMJ in New Zealand white rabbits were surgically created and randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups: (1) control (no filling material); (2) Gel-MA hydrogel; (3) Hst1/Gel-MA hydrogel. Samples were retrieved 1, 2, and 4 weeks post-surgery and subjected to gross examination and a series of histomorphometric and immunological analyses. In comparison with the control and Gel-MA alone groups, Hst1/Gel-MA hydrogel was associated with significantly higher International Cartilage Repair Society score, modified O'Driscoll score, area percentages of newly formed bone, cartilage, collagen fiber, and glycosaminoglycan, and expression of collagen II and aggrecan. In conclusion, Hst1/Gel-MA hydrogels significantly enhance bone and cartilage regeneration, thus bearing promising application potential for repairing osteochondral defects.
