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Journal of Medicine and Life 2021Cloud computing is among the most beneficial solutions to digital problems. Security is one of the focal issues in cloud computing technology, and this study aims at... (Review)
Review
Cloud computing is among the most beneficial solutions to digital problems. Security is one of the focal issues in cloud computing technology, and this study aims at investigating security issues of cloud computing and their probable solutions. A systematic review was performed using Scopus, Pubmed, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases. Once the title and abstract were evaluated, the quality of studies was assessed in order to choose the most relevant according to exclusion and inclusion criteria. Then, the full texts of studies selected were read thoroughly to extract the necessary results. According to the review, data security, availability, and integrity, as well as information confidentiality and network security, were the major challenges in cloud security. Further, data encryption, authentication, and classification, besides application programming interfaces (API), were security solutions to cloud infrastructure. Data encryption could be applied to store and retrieve data from the cloud in order to provide secure communication. Besides, several central challenges, which make the cloud security engineering process problematic, have been considered in this study.
Topics: Cloud Computing; Computer Security; Confidentiality; Delivery of Health Care; Humans; Software
PubMed: 34621367
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2021-0100 -
BMC Health Services Research Mar 2018Over the last quarter century, there has been an emergence of evidence-based research directed toward the development, implementation, and assessment of youth-friendly... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Over the last quarter century, there has been an emergence of evidence-based research directed toward the development, implementation, and assessment of youth-friendly health services (YFHS) to improve the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services for young people. Despite these research efforts, evidence supporting the effectiveness of YFHS is limited, which may be attributed to a lack of consensus on how to define and measure youth-friendliness to track progress and evaluate outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review is to assess how youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services are measured worldwide.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic review of studies measuring youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services at health facilities published between January 2000 and June 2015 using PubMed, Web of Science, and POPLINE databases. Additional studies were identified by reviewing references of selected articles. Studies were screened to identify measurements and indicators that have been used to measure YFHS.
RESULTS
Our review identified 20 studies from an initial search of more than 11,000 records, including six from high-income countries and 14 from low-and middle-income countries. The review identified 115 indicators used for measuring youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. Our review found a lack of consistency in the tools and indicators used to measure YFHS. The three most frequently assessed domains were accessibility, staff characteristics and competency, and confidentiality and privacy. The majority of the indicators were not specific to young people's needs and often reflected basic standards of care.
CONCLUSIONS
This review shows the need for standardization and prioritization of indicators for the evaluation of YFHS. The results can be used to identify a core set of indicators that can be incorporated into a framework for assessing youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. There is a need to further distinguish between those variables that may have greatest impact on the use of services by young people, such as respect and privacy, those that impact the quality of services offered, and those that have limited relevance. Conducting more rigorous studies using a refined set of indicators is critical to measure and compare the impact and effectiveness of YFHS efforts.
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Health Services; Clinical Competence; Confidentiality; Health Services Accessibility; Health Services Research; Humans; Professional-Patient Relations; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Reproductive Health Services
PubMed: 29587727
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-018-2982-4 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jul 2021COVID-19 shocked cities around the world and revealed the vulnerability of urban lives and functions. Most cities experienced a catastrophic disturbance that has lasted... (Review)
Review
COVID-19 shocked cities around the world and revealed the vulnerability of urban lives and functions. Most cities experienced a catastrophic disturbance that has lasted for a long time. Planning plays a critical role in responding efficiently to this crisis and enabling rapid functional recovery in the post-disaster era. Cities that have implemented digitalization initiatives and programs are likely to have more capacity to react appropriately. Specifically, digitalized cities could ensure the well-being of their residents and maintain continuity of urban functions. This research aims to analyze the role of technology in crisis management in the last two decades and provide appropriate policy recommendations for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Systematic literature review and subjective content analysis are employed to investigate the effects of technology on community well-being and making cities more resilient in past crises. This study shows that different technology-driven policies and actions enable crisis management, enhance community well-being, and increase urban resilience. Technology has enhanced coping and recovery capacities by increasing participation and social connectedness, enhancing physical and mental health and maintaining the functionality of education and economic systems. These have been achieved through various solutions and technologies such as social media, telehealth, tracking and monitoring systems, sensors and locational applications, teleworking systems, etc. These solutions and technologies have also been used during the COVID-19 pandemic to enhance community well-being and sustain urban functions. However, technology deployment might have adverse effects such as social exclusion, digital divide, privacy and confidentiality violation, political bias and misinformation dissemination, and inefficient remote working and education. It is suggested that to mitigate these side effects, policymakers should liberate the process of digitalization, increase the accessibility to digital services, and enhance digital literacy.
Topics: COVID-19; Cities; Humans; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2; Telemedicine
PubMed: 34360029
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18157736 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2023In the age of digitalization and big data, personal health information is a key resource for health care and clinical research. This study aimed to analyze the... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
In the age of digitalization and big data, personal health information is a key resource for health care and clinical research. This study aimed to analyze the determinants and describe the measurement of the willingness to disclose personal health information.
METHODS
The study conducted a systematic review of articles assessing willingness to share personal health information as a primary or secondary outcome. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis protocol. English and Italian peer-reviewed research articles were included with no restrictions for publication years. Findings were narratively synthesized.
RESULTS
The search strategy found 1,087 papers, 89 of which passed the screening for title and abstract and the full-text assessment.
CONCLUSION
No validated measurement tool has been developed for willingness to share personal health information. The reviewed papers measured it through surveys, interviews, and questionnaires, which were mutually incomparable. The secondary use of data was the most important determinant of willingness to share, whereas clinical and socioeconomic variables had a slight effect. The main concern discouraging data sharing was privacy, although good data anonymization and the high perceived benefits of sharing may overcome this issue.
Topics: Health Records, Personal; Privacy; Information Dissemination; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 37546309
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1213615 -
The Pharmacogenomics Journal Dec 2022The successful implementation of pharmacogenetics (PGx) into clinical practice requires patient genomic data to be shared between stakeholders in multiple settings. This...
The successful implementation of pharmacogenetics (PGx) into clinical practice requires patient genomic data to be shared between stakeholders in multiple settings. This creates a number of barriers to widespread adoption of PGx, including privacy concerns related to the storage and movement of identifiable genomic data. Informatic solutions that support secure and equitable data access for genomic data are therefore important to PGx. Here we propose a methodology that uses smart contracts implemented on a blockchain-based framework, PGxChain, to address this issue. The design requirements for PGxChain were identified through a systematic literature review, identifying technical challenges and barriers impeding the clinical implementation of pharmacogenomics. These requirements included security and privacy, accessibility, interoperability, traceability and legal compliance. A proof-of-concept implementation based on Ethereum was then developed that met the design requirements. PGxChain's performance was examined using Hyperledger Caliper for latency, throughput, and transaction success rate. The findings clearly indicate that blockchain technology offers considerable potential to advance pharmacogenetic data sharing, particularly with regard to PGx data security and privacy, large-scale accessibility of PGx data, PGx data interoperability between multiple health care providers and compliance with data-sharing laws and regulations.
Topics: Humans; Blockchain; Pharmacogenetics; Computer Security; Information Dissemination; Pharmacogenomic Testing
PubMed: 35869255
DOI: 10.1038/s41397-022-00285-5 -
PeerJ. Computer Science 2022On January 8, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially announced a new virus in Wuhan, China. The first novel coronavirus (COVID-19) case was...
BACKGROUND
On January 8, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially announced a new virus in Wuhan, China. The first novel coronavirus (COVID-19) case was discovered on December 1, 2019, implying that the disease was spreading quietly and quickly in the community before reaching the rest of the world. To deal with the virus' wide spread, countries have deployed contact tracing mobile applications to control viral transmission. Such applications collect users' information and inform them if they were in contact with an individual diagnosed with COVID-19. However, these applications might have affected human rights by breaching users' privacy.
METHODOLOGY
This systematic literature review followed a comprehensive methodology to highlight current research discussing such privacy issues. First, it used a search strategy to obtain 808 relevant papers published in 2020 from well-established digital libraries. Second, inclusion/exclusion criteria and the snowballing technique were applied to produce more comprehensive results. Finally, by the application of a quality assessment procedure, 40 studies were chosen.
RESULTS
This review highlights privacy issues, discusses centralized and decentralized models and the different technologies affecting users' privacy, and identifies solutions to improve data privacy from three perspectives: public, law, and health considerations.
CONCLUSIONS
Governments need to address the privacy issues related to contact tracing apps. This can be done through enforcing special policies to guarantee users privacy. Additionally, it is important to be transparent and let users know what data is being collected and how it is being used.
PubMed: 35111915
DOI: 10.7717/peerj-cs.826 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Jul 2022Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) is an identity model centered on the user. The user maintains and controls their data in this model. When a service provider requests data... (Review)
Review
Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) is an identity model centered on the user. The user maintains and controls their data in this model. When a service provider requests data from the user, the user sends it directly to the service provider, bypassing third-party intermediaries. Thus, SSI reduces identity providers' involvement in the identification, authentication, and authorization, thereby increasing user privacy. Additionally, users can share portions of their personal information with service providers, significantly improving user privacy. This identity model has drawn the attention of researchers and organizations worldwide, resulting in an increase in both scientific and non-scientific literature on the subject. This study conducts a comprehensive and rigorous systematic review of the literature and a systematic mapping of theoretical and practical advances in SSI. We identified and analyzed evidence from reviewed materials to address four research questions, resulting in a novel SSI taxonomy used to categorize and review publications. Additionally, open challenges are discussed along with recommendations for future work.
Topics: Classification; Humans; Privacy
PubMed: 35957198
DOI: 10.3390/s22155641 -
BMC Medical Education Jan 2021Teaching cybercivility requires thoughtful attention to curriculum development and content delivery. Theories, models, and conceptual and theoretical frameworks... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Teaching cybercivility requires thoughtful attention to curriculum development and content delivery. Theories, models, and conceptual and theoretical frameworks (hereafter "tools") provide useful foundations for integrating new knowledge and skills into existing professional practice and education. We conducted this scoping review to identify tools used for teaching cybercivility in health professions education.
METHODS
Using Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review framework, we searched six biomedical and educational databases and three grey literature databases for articles available in English published between January 1, 2000 and March 31, 2020. Following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews), we screened and extracted relevant data, and reported the results of the search.
RESULTS
The search resulted in 2272 articles, with 8 articles included in this review after inclusion criteria were applied. Four articles (50%) were peer-reviewed journal papers while the other 4 (50%) were dissertations. Eleven unique tools were identified by this review: (1) Transpersonal Caring Theory, (2) Theory of Workplace Incivility, (3) Conceptualization of Incivility, (4) Media Ecology Theory, (5) Principlism, (6) Salmon's Five Stage Model of Online Learning, (7) Learner-Centered Educational Theory, (8) Gallant and Drinan's 4-Stage Model of Institutionalization of Academic Integrity, (9) Theory of Planned Behavior, (10) Communication Privacy Management Theory, and (11) Moral Development Theory. Based on the tools analyzed in our scoping review, we determined three features of cybercivility pedagogy to which the tools provided a guide: (1) behavioral manifestations, (2) academic integrity, and (3) digital professionalism.
CONCLUSIONS
The reviewed tools provide a pedagogical foundation and guidance for teaching various properties of cybercivility. Future studies should be expanded to include a broader literature body and non-English literature to provide the global perspective and global skills needed by a diverse population of learners.
Topics: Communication; Delivery of Health Care; Health Occupations; Professionalism; Thinking
PubMed: 33516204
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-021-02507-z -
International Journal of Medical... Jul 2023To explore how smokers view common functions and characteristics of smoking cessation apps. (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVES
To explore how smokers view common functions and characteristics of smoking cessation apps.
DESIGN
Systematic review.
SEARCH SOURCES
CINAHL PLUS, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and Google Scholar.
REVIEW METHODS
Seven digital databases were searched separately using relevant search terms. Search results were uploaded to Covidence. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified with the expert team in advance. Titles, abstracts, and full texts were screened by two reviewers independently. Any disagreements were discussed in research meetings. Pertinent data were extracted and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings were presented in a narrative approach.
RESULTS
28 studies were included in this review. The overarching themes were app functionality and app characteristics. Under app "functionality", six subthemes emerged: 1) education; 2) tracking; 3) social support; 4) compensation; 5) distraction, and 6) reminding. Under "app characteristics", five subthemes emerged: 1) simplification, 2) personalisation, 3) diverse content forms, 4) interactivity, and 5) privacy and security.
CONCLUSION
Understanding user needs and expectations is crucial for developing a programme theory for smoking cessation app interventions. Relevant needs identified in this review should be linked to broader theories of smoking cessation and app-based intervention.
Topics: Humans; Smoking Cessation; Smokers; Mobile Applications; Text Messaging; Qualitative Research
PubMed: 37084673
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2023.105069 -
Midwifery Mar 2021Fathers have been increasingly involved in childbirth since 1990. Attendance at childbirth is considered to benefit fathers' health as well as that of their partner and... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
Fathers have been increasingly involved in childbirth since 1990. Attendance at childbirth is considered to benefit fathers' health as well as that of their partner and children. However, childbirth is a life event that parents may experience differently. First-time fathers' experiences have been barely studied and may differ from those of fathers who have already had a child. In order to adapt support and care during childbirth to the needs of first-time fathers, a deeper insight must be gained into their experiences and needs during childbirth.
DESIGN
A systematic review of qualitative studies was conducted using PubMed, Embase and CINAHL as well as the snowball method. Quality appraisal was performed and evaluated using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. A thematic best evidence synthesis was performed.
FINDINGS
Of 821 articles, eight qualitative studies and the qualitative data of one mixed methods study were included. amongst other feelings, fathers experience a lack of knowledge and a need to be better prepared. First-time fathers want to be more involved and need guidance, information and honest answers to help them fulfil a supportive role. Fathers disregard their own needs to focus on the needs of the mother. Meeting the baby for the first time changes the focus from the mother to the child, and fathers need time and privacy for this special moment.
KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
To adapt support and care during childbirth to the needs of first-time fathers, professionals must be aware of their needs. Professionals must realise the significant influence of their professional behaviour on first-time fathers' experiences. Care for first-time fathers should be formalised. Follow-up research must be conducted on integrating the preparation of first-time fathers into prenatal care. Education and training of professionals must be improved.
Topics: Child; Delivery, Obstetric; Fathers; Female; Humans; Male; Mothers; Parturition; Pregnancy; Prenatal Care; Qualitative Research
PubMed: 33444743
DOI: 10.1016/j.midw.2020.102921