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Cureus Sep 2023Blockchain technology has gained attention as a potential solution for improving data security, privacy, and interoperability in various industries, including... (Review)
Review
Blockchain technology has gained attention as a potential solution for improving data security, privacy, and interoperability in various industries, including healthcare. In the field of dentistry, the implementation of blockchain holds promise for transforming dental practice and management. However, a comprehensive evaluation of the existing literature regarding the implementation of blockchain technology in dental practice is lacking. This systematic review aimed to assess the current evidence on the implementation of blockchain technology in dental practice and management. A systematic literature search was conducted using major databases to identify relevant studies. The search strategy included keywords related to blockchain technology and dentistry. The investigation was performed as per the PRISMA guidelines. Studies reporting on the implementation, adoption, and outcomes of blockchain technology in dental practice and management were included. Quality assessment and data extraction were performed following predefined criteria. The initial search yielded a multitude of articles, and after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, six studies were included in the systematic review. The studies explored various aspects of blockchain technology implementation in dental practice, including data security, interoperability, supply chain management, and patient consent management. Furthermore, the use of blockchain-based systems showed potential benefits in enhancing supply chain management efficiency and patient consent authentication. This systematic review provided insights into the current state of blockchain technology implementation in dental practice and management. The findings suggested that blockchain technology has the potential to enhance data security, privacy, and interoperability in dental practices. However, further research and real-world implementation studies are needed to fully understand the impact of blockchain technology on dental practice and to address the existing challenges.
PubMed: 37868487
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.45512 -
Heliyon Jan 2024This study aimed at determining the effects of technology adoption on farmers' well-being. Specifically, we analysed and extended the current understanding of the topic... (Review)
Review
This study aimed at determining the effects of technology adoption on farmers' well-being. Specifically, we analysed and extended the current understanding of the topic by focusing on the concepts of technology adoption and well-being. The data were sourced from 30 papers that were selected based on specific criteria from the WoS and Scopus databases. They were acquired through a systematic search and quality appraisal process. The adopted technology can be grouped into sustainable agricultural practices and innovations, digital agriculture and information technology, precision farming and resource management, financial inclusion and agricultural transactions, remote sensing and satellite technology, and agricultural programs and initiatives. Most papers indicated that technology adoption improved farmers' well-being which was basically measured using productivity and income. The measure however lacked farmers' value judgments, such as happiness. Agricultural technology could have a mixed effect on farmers' well-being, depending on the type of technology adopted and the compatibility of farmers with technology in their agricultural practices. This study will assist researchers in developing an appropriate framework and strategy to improve farmers' welfare, which can alleviate poverty. These may further help policymakers identify the best technological innovations that can improve farmers' economic and social welfare, thereby facilitating the development of plans to meet farmers' needs and interests. Finally, the study suggested future research directions for researchers and academics.
PubMed: 38312653
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24316 -
Thrombosis Research Apr 2024Long peripheral catheters (LPCs) and midline catheters (MCs) are indiscriminately labelled with different names, leading to misclassifications both in primary and... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Long peripheral catheters (LPCs) and midline catheters (MCs) are indiscriminately labelled with different names, leading to misclassifications both in primary and secondary studies. The available studies used different methods to report the incidence of catheter-related complications, affecting the possibility of properly comparing the catheter outcomes. The aim of this review was to explore the complications related to LPCs and MCs after reclassifying according to their length.
METHODS
Systematic literature review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, conducted on PubMed, Scopus and CINAHL databases. The study protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. Data regarding LPCs and MCs were compared. Catheter outcomes were classified into major and minor complications, recomputed and reported as cases/1000 catheter-days.
RESULTS
Fourteen studies were included. Over-half of the devices were correctly labelled by the authors, misclassifications affected particularly LPCs improperly labelled MCs. The cumulative incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections was 0.3 and 0.4/1000 catheter-days, that of symptomatic catheter-related thrombosis was 0.9 and 1.8/1000 catheter-days for MCs and LPCs, respectively. Minor complications and catheter failure were higher for LPCs.
CONCLUSIONS
A misclassification exists in the labelling of MCs and LPCs. A widespread heterogeneity of diagnostic criteria adopted to classify the catheters' outcomes was found, exposing the risk of misestimating the incidence of complications and undermining the possibility of effectively comparing results of the published research. We proposed a list of definitions and relevant variables as a first step toward the development of standardized criteria to be adopted for research purposes.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Catheters; Thrombosis; Data Collection; Incidence; Catheterization, Peripheral; Catheters, Indwelling; Catheterization, Central Venous
PubMed: 38422981
DOI: 10.1016/j.thromres.2024.02.022 -
The Journal of Hand Surgery Dec 2023Total wrist arthrodesis (TWA) has been performed using various techniques. We aimed to provide pooled prevalence estimates of union and complications of TWA by...
PURPOSE
Total wrist arthrodesis (TWA) has been performed using various techniques. We aimed to provide pooled prevalence estimates of union and complications of TWA by technique. A secondary aim was to provide estimates of union and complication rates by treatment of the carpometacarpal joint (CMCJ) in TWA using plates. Given the widespread adoption of wrist arthrodesis plates (WAP), we hypothesized that these implants would result in higher union and lower complication rates. We also hypothesized that TWA with CMCJ arthrodesis would improve these outcomes.
METHODS
Online databases including PubMed, Medline, Embase, and Cochrane were searched. Studies reporting union and/or complication rates of 10 or more TWA performed with a similar technique (analyzed as bone graft only, bone graft with minimal fixation, intramedullary, augmented intramedullary, plate, WAP, and other) were included. Studies with fewer than 10 TWA, studies reporting TWA where union or complications could not be analyzed separately, and studies without union and complication rates were excluded. Data extraction was performed independently by two English-speaking reviewers with a translator where required. Pooled prevalence estimates were made using a random-effects meta-analysis model and presented as a percent prevalence with 95% confidence and prediction intervals.
RESULTS
One hundred and thirty-six studies with a total of 3,517 patients and 3,969 TWA were analyzed. No differences in union and complication prevalence were observed between TWA techniques and in TWA with different treatments of the CMCJ using plates and WAP.
CONCLUSION
Using meta-analysis, we found no difference in union and complication prevalence between TWA techniques and TWA with different treatments of the CMCJ with plates and WAP. It must be acknowledged that this research included low-quality studies with high heterogeneity, and confidence in the precision of the estimates is low.
TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Prognostic IV.
PubMed: 38043034
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2023.10.011 -
Journal of Medical Internet Research Sep 2023Mobile health (mHealth) technology has great potential for addressing the epidemic of chronic noncommunicable diseases (CNCDs) by assisting health providers (HPs) with... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Mobile health (mHealth) technology has great potential for addressing the epidemic of chronic noncommunicable diseases (CNCDs) by assisting health providers (HPs) with managing these diseases. However, there is currently limited evidence regarding the acceptance of mHealth among HPs, which is a key prerequisite for harnessing this potential.
OBJECTIVE
This review aimed to investigate the perceptions and experiences of HPs regarding the barriers to and facilitators of mHealth use for CNCDs.
METHODS
A systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE (via Ovid), Embase, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library (via Ovid) for studies that assessed the perceptions and experiences of HPs regarding the barriers to and facilitators of mHealth use for CNCDs. Qualitative studies and mixed methods studies involving qualitative methods published in English were included. Data synthesis and interpretation were performed using a thematic synthesis approach.
RESULTS
A total of 18,242 studies were identified, of which 24 (0.13%) met the inclusion criteria. Overall, 6 themes related to facilitators were identified, namely empowering patient self-management, increasing efficiency, improving access to care, increasing the quality of care, improving satisfaction, and improving the usability of the internet and mobile software. Furthermore, 8 themes related to barriers were identified, namely limitation due to digital literacy, personal habits, or health problems; concern about additional burden; uncertainty around the value of mHealth technology; fear of medicolegal risks; lack of comfortable design and experience; lack of resources and incentives; lack of policy guidance and regulation; and worrisome side effects resulting from the use of mHealth.
CONCLUSIONS
This study contributes to the understanding of the beneficial factors of and obstacles to mHealth adoption by HPs for CNCDs. The findings of this study may provide significant insights for health care workers and policy makers who seek ways to improve the adoption of mHealth by HPs for CNCDs.
Topics: Humans; Noncommunicable Diseases; Administrative Personnel; Biomedical Technology; Chronic Disease; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions
PubMed: 37698902
DOI: 10.2196/45437 -
Journal of Medical Internet Research Nov 2023Chronic diseases are a leading cause of adult mortality, accounting for 41 million deaths globally each year. Low levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior are... (Review)
Review
RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) Evaluation of the Use of Activity Trackers in the Clinical Care of Adults Diagnosed With a Chronic Disease: Integrative Systematic Review.
BACKGROUND
Chronic diseases are a leading cause of adult mortality, accounting for 41 million deaths globally each year. Low levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior are major risk factors for adults to develop a chronic disease. Physical activity interventions can help support patients in clinical care to be more active. Commercial activity trackers that can measure daily steps, physical activity intensity, sedentary behavior, and distance moved are being more frequently used within health-related interventions. The RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework is a planning and evaluation approach to explore the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of interventions.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to conduct an integrative systematic review and report the 5 main RE-AIM dimensions in interventions that used activity trackers in clinical care to improve physical activity or reduce sedentary behavior in adults diagnosed with chronic diseases.
METHODS
A search strategy and study protocol were developed and registered on the PROSPERO platform. Inclusion criteria included adults (18 years and older) diagnosed with a chronic disease and have used an activity tracker within their clinical care. Searches of 10 databases and gray literature were conducted, and qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies were included. Screening was undertaken by more than 1 researcher to reduce the risk of bias. After screening, the final studies were analyzed using a RE-AIM framework data extraction evaluation tool. This tool assisted in identifying the 28 RE-AIM indicators within the studies and linked them to the 5 main RE-AIM dimensions.
RESULTS
The initial search identified 4585 potential studies. After a title and abstract review followed by full-text screening, 15 studies were identified for data extraction. The analysis of the extracted data found that the RE-AIM dimensions of adoption (n=1, 7% of studies) and maintenance (n=2, 13% of studies) were underreported. The use of qualitative thematic analysis to understand the individual RE-AIM dimensions was also underreported and only used in 3 of the studies. Two studies used qualitative analysis to explore the effectiveness of the project, while 1 study used thematic analysis to understand the implementation of an intervention.
CONCLUSIONS
Further research is required in the use of activity trackers to support patients to lead a more active lifestyle. Such studies should consider using the RE-AIM framework at the planning stage with a greater focus on the dimensions of adoption and maintenance and using qualitative methods to understand the main RE-AIM dimensions within their design. These results should form the basis for establishing long-term interventions in clinical care.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
PROSPERO CRD42022319635; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=319635.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Chronic Disease; Databases, Factual; Exercise; Fitness Trackers; Sedentary Behavior
PubMed: 37955960
DOI: 10.2196/44919 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023This study reviews empirical research literature that deals with existing caring approaches to nurture and educate gifted children in music. The focus on the ethics of...
This study reviews empirical research literature that deals with existing caring approaches to nurture and educate gifted children in music. The focus on the ethics of care stems from the need to expand notions of talent development in music from a purely behaviorist focus often associated with traumatic experiences, toward a perspective that addresses socio-emotional and cultural aspects of human development across the lifespan. We employed the Preferred Reporting Systems for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews method to review literature concerning caring approaches to the upbringing and education of children gifted for music. A total of 652 records dating from the 1930s and searched via both digital databases and manually in 41 relevant journals were retrieved from which 506 were examined using our inclusion criteria. A detailed analysis process allowed the authors to include 14 studies that were organized according to sampling location, methodologies, quality appraisal, and criteria-related topics. Eleven of the studies were qualitative with a majority of these employing semi-structured interviews for data collection, while the remaining meta strategy and quantitative studies typically employed questionnaires. Salient topics covered by the selected studies included: addressing inequalities in opportunity to access gifted programs; identifying socio-emotional needs of gifted (and twice-exceptional) students; offering a nurturing environment; focusing on intrinsic motivation; developing coping strategies for overall wellbeing; and cultivating healthy attitudes toward competitions through a spirit of peer collaboration and humility. These aspects were clustered into Francoy Gagné's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent regarding natural abilities, environmental, intrapersonal, and developmental catalysts that are involved in nurturing talents in gifted children. Results suggest that the existing research on caring approaches to musically gifted children's learning and development are scarce and that current knowledge is based mostly on single one-off studies rather than systematic research, and on studies that examine a selection of aspects but not adopting a larger-scale theoretical framework. This review highlights the need for more systematic, multidisciplinary, and empirically robust studies on caring approaches to musically gifted children's learning and development, and for policy developments in educational settings where acceleration programs are offered for young, gifted music learners.
PubMed: 37575454
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1167292 -
Computers in Biology and Medicine Sep 2023Deep learning (DL) has become one of the major approaches in computational dermatopathology, evidenced by a significant increase in this topic in the current literature....
Deep learning (DL) has become one of the major approaches in computational dermatopathology, evidenced by a significant increase in this topic in the current literature. We aim to provide a structured and comprehensive overview of peer-reviewed publications on DL applied to dermatopathology focused on melanoma. In comparison to well-published DL methods on non-medical images (e.g., classification on ImageNet), this field of application comprises a specific set of challenges, such as staining artifacts, large gigapixel images, and various magnification levels. Thus, we are particularly interested in the pathology-specific technical state-of-the-art. We also aim to summarize the best performances achieved thus far with respect to accuracy, along with an overview of self-reported limitations. Accordingly, we conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journal and conference articles published between 2012 and 2022 in the databases ACM Digital Library, Embase, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, and Scopus, expanded by forward and backward searches to identify 495 potentially eligible studies. After screening for relevance and quality, a total of 54 studies were included. We qualitatively summarized and analyzed these studies from technical, problem-oriented, and task-oriented perspectives. Our findings suggest that the technical aspects of DL for histopathology in melanoma can be further improved. The DL methodology was adopted later in this field, and still lacks the wider adoption of DL methods already shown to be effective for other applications. We also discuss upcoming trends toward ImageNet-based feature extraction and larger models. While DL has achieved human-competitive accuracy in routine pathological tasks, its performance on advanced tasks is still inferior to wet-lab testing (for example). Finally, we discuss the challenges impeding the translation of DL methods to clinical practice and provide insight into future research directions.
Topics: Humans; Deep Learning; Melanoma
PubMed: 37315382
DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107083 -
Fertility and Sterility Aug 2023Noninvasive and minimally invasive preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) is a tool that may one day become the gold standard for embryonic chromosomal...
Noninvasive and minimally invasive preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) is a tool that may one day become the gold standard for embryonic chromosomal screening. Investigations on this topic have ranged from studying the culture media of embryos to the fluid inside the blastocoel, all in an attempt to find a reliable source of DNA without the need to biopsy the embryo. There is great interest across the board, both from those for and against biopsy, in a reliable test process that would give the patient and provider the same information possible from a biopsy without the risk. We aim to explore the current available research to better understand the utility and accuracy of PGT-A with these new sampling techniques. General concordance rates in comparison with biopsy-based PGT-A are promising, but it is clear that additional research and understanding are needed before adopting noninvasive and minimally invasive PGT-A as a widely used tool with strong clinical utility.
Topics: Pregnancy; Female; Humans; Preimplantation Diagnosis; Genetic Testing; Aneuploidy; Blastocyst; Culture Media; Fertilization in Vitro
PubMed: 37356468
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2023.06.013 -
BMC Health Services Research Jul 2023Managing the care regimen for Type 1 Diabetes is challenging for emerging adults, as they take on greater responsibility for self-management. A diverse range of models...
BACKGROUND
Managing the care regimen for Type 1 Diabetes is challenging for emerging adults, as they take on greater responsibility for self-management. A diverse range of models of care have been implemented to improve safety and quality of care during transition between paediatric and adult services. However, evidence about acceptability and effectiveness of these is limited. Our aim was to synthesise the evidence for transition models and their components, examine the health related and psychosocial outcomes, and to identify determinants associated with the implementation of person-centred models of transition care.
METHOD
We searched Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE and Scopus. Peer reviewed empirical studies that focused on T1D models of care published from 2010 to 2021 in English, reporting experimental, qualitative, mixed methods, and observational studies were included.
RESULTS
Fourteen studies reported on health and psychosocial outcomes, and engagement with healthcare. Three key models of care emerged: structured transition education programs (6 studies), multidisciplinary team transition support (5 studies) and telehealth/virtual care (3 studies). Compared with usual practice, three of the six structured transition education programs led to improvements in maintenance of glycaemic control, psychological well-being, and engagement with health services. Four MDT transition care models reported improved health outcomes, and improved engagement with health services, however, three studies reported no benefit. Reduced diabetes related stress and increased patient satisfaction were reported by two studies, but three reported no benefit. Telehealth and virtual group appointments improved adherence to self-management and reduced diabetes distress but did not change health outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS
Although some health and psychosocial benefits are reported, the results were mixed. No studies reported on T1D transition model implementation outcomes such as acceptability, adoption, and appropriateness among clinicians or managers implementing these models. This gap needs to be addressed to support future adoption of successful models.
Topics: Adult; Child; Humans; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Transition to Adult Care
PubMed: 37474959
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-09644-9