Expectations of a Health-Related Mobile Self-Management App Intervention Among Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury.

Background: Our research team developed a mobile application (app) to facilitate health-related self-management behaviors for secondary conditions among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). To facilitate mobile app adoption and ongoing use into the community, it is important to understand potential users' expectations and needs.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to explore user expectations of a mobile app intervention designed to facilitate self-management behavior among individuals with SCI.

The Use and Effect of the Health Storylines mHealth App on Female Childhood Cancer Survivors' Self-efficacy, Health-Related Quality of Life and Perceived Illness.

Background: mHealth apps have been not been well tested among childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) to track physical and psychosocial functioning for improved self-management of post-treatment needs.

Objectives: This pilot study had 3 aims: (1) assess the usage of the Health Storylines mHealth app; (2) examine its effect in improving self-efficacy in managing survivorship healthcare needs, health-related quality of life, and perceived illness; and (3) determine if app usage moderated the effects on the above patient-reported outcome measures among female CCSs.

Methods: Study participants accessed the Health Storylines mHealth app on their own personal device.

Patients' Perspectives on the Usability of a Mobile App for Self-Management following Spinal Cord Injury.

With decreasing inpatient lengths of stay following spinal cord injury (SCI), newly injured patients may be discharged into the community without the self-management skills needed to prevent secondary conditions. A mobile app was developed to facilitate self-management skills following SCI in the inpatient rehabilitation and early community settings. The objective of this study was to explore patients' perspectives on the usability of this self-management app.

Living With Neuroendocrine Tumors: Assessment of Quality of Life Through a Mobile Application.

Purpose: To understand the quality of life (QoL) for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) through comparison of QoL questionnaires and symptom tracking as well as journaling via the Carcinoid NETs Health Storylines mobile application (app).

Patients And Methods: This was a 12-week prospective, observational study of US patients with NET who were taking long-acting somatostatin analogs. National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) questionnaires were administered three times.

Implementing a self-management mobile app for spinal cord injury during inpatient rehabilitation and following community discharge: A feasibility study.

To determine the feasibility of implementing and evaluating a self-management mobile app for spinal cord injury (SCI) during inpatient rehabilitation and following community discharge. Pilot feasibility study. Rehabilitation hospital and community.

Development of a Self-Management App for People with Spinal Cord Injury.

With decreasing inpatient rehabilitation lengths of stay, there may be a greater risk of spinal cord injury (SCI) populations being discharged into the community without the self-management skills needed to prevent secondary complications. Recent advancements in mobile health has made mobile apps a feasible method of delivering population-based, self-management interventions to address SCI-specific secondary complications. The objective of this study is to describe stakeholder perspectives on the development of a functional mobile app to facilitate self-management skills needed to prevent secondary complications following recent SCI during inpatient rehabilitation.

Improving Self-Management Skills Among People With Spinal Cord Injury: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Most people with spinal cord injury will develop secondary complications with potentially devastating consequences. Self-management is a key prevention strategy for averting the development of secondary complications and their recurrence. Several studies have shown that self-management programs improve self-management behaviors and health outcomes in individuals living with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis.

Characterizing Smartphone Engagement for Schizophrenia: Results of a Naturalist Mobile Health Study.

Introduction: Despite growing interest in smartphone apps for schizophrenia, little is known about how these apps are utilized in the real world. Understanding how app users are engaging with these tools outside of the confines of traditional clinical studies offers an important information on who is most likely to use apps and what type of data they are willing to share.

Methods: The Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America, in partnership with Self Care Catalyst, has created a smartphone app for schizophrenia that is free and publically available on both Apple iTunes and Google Android Play stores.

A Randomized Controlled Effectiveness Trial for PSA Screening Decision Support Interventions in Two Primary Care Settings.

Background: Decision support interventions (DESIs) provide a mechanism to translate comparative effectiveness research results into clinical care so that patients are able to make informed decisions. Patient decision support interventions for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) have been shown to promote informed decision making and reduce PSA testing in efficacy trials, but their impact in real world settings is not clear.

Objective: We performed an effectiveness trial of PSA decision support interventions in primary care.

Functional assessment of accommodating intraocular lenses versus monofocal intraocular lenses in cataract surgery: metaanalysis.

Purpose: To compare accommodating intraocular lens (IOLs) and monofocal IOLs in restoring accommodation in cataract surgery.

Setting: Dartmouth Medical School and Department of Ophthalmology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA.

Methods: In this metaanalysis, 2 researchers independently extracted data, assessed trial quality, and contacted authors for missing information.

Long-term outcomes of Gamma Knife radiosurgery for classic trigeminal neuralgia: implications of treatment and critical review of the literature. Clinical article.

Object: Few long-term studies of Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) for trigeminal neuralgia (TN) exist. The authors report their long-term experience with the use of GKS in a previously reported cohort of patients with TN that has now been followed since 1996.

Methods: One hundred twelve patients with TN were treated with GKS at the University of Maryland between June 1996 and July 2001.

Use of second look nephroscopy in children undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy.

Purpose: We determined the rate of stone clearance in children following percutaneous nephrolithotomy, endoscopic assessment of residual stone and the judicious use of second look nephroscopy.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all children undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy from 1996 to 2007. Cases were reviewed for pertinent details including preoperative and postoperative imaging, specifics of the procedure and followup.

Preferences of older and younger adults with serious mental illness for involvement in decision-making in medical and psychiatric settings.

Objectives: There is a growing call for greater consumer participation in health care encounters. Prior research suggests that older age is associated with a greater preference for a more passive role in clinical decision-making, yet little is known about preferences for persons with mental illness. This pilot study compared preferences for involvement in decision-making between older and younger adults with serious mental illness.

Shared decision-making preferences of people with severe mental illness.

Objective: Perceived roles and preferences were explored for shared decision making among persons with severe mental illnesses.

Methods: In this pilot study, 30 adult clients with severe mental illness in a community mental health center were surveyed about decision making regarding psychiatric medications, rehabilitation, and general medical care.

Results: Clients generally expressed a desire for greater participation in decisions about psychiatric care than they currently experienced.

Shared decision-making and evidence-based practice.

Shared decision-making refers to a process of health care delivery in which practitioners and clients seeking help for problems or disorders collaborate to access relevant information and to enable client-centered selection of health care resources. Though nearly all clients express a desire for more information, preferences for participation in health care decisions vary by individual and by illness. Two common strategies to promote shared decision-making are communication training for clients and clinicians, and decision aids to provide targeted information and values clarification.

Use of erythropoietin in cancer patients: assessment of oncologists' practice patterns in the United States and other countries.

Purpose: To assess physician use of erythropoietin in cancer patients before publication of the American Society of Clinical Oncology/American Society of Hematology guidelines.

Methods: Questionnaires about erythropoietin use in practice and 12 hypothetical clinical scenarios involving patients with cancer were mailed to 2000 oncologists/hematologists in the United States and 19 other countries. Response rates were 30% in the United States and 25% internationally.

Erythropoietin, uncertainty principle and cancer related anaemia.

Background: This study was designed to evaluate if erythropoietin (EPO) is effective in the treatment of cancer related anemia, and if its effect remains unchanged when data are analyzed according to various clinical and methodological characteristics of the studies. We also wanted to demonstrate that cumulative meta-analysis (CMA) can be used to resolve uncertainty regarding clinical questions.

Methods: Systematic Review (SR) of the published literature on the role of EPO in cancer-related anemia.

G-CSF as prophylaxis of febrile neutropenia in SCLC.

Objectives: In 1991, small cell lung cancer (SCLC) was reported as the first tumour type where colony stimulating factor (CSF) support was clinically effective. We reviewed 13 health services research studies that addressed CSF use as supportive care for SCLC.

Methods: Findings from American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) membership surveys, patterns of care studies, ASCO evidence-based guidelines and cost-effectiveness studies for CSF use were reviewed.

Cost-effectiveness considerations in the treatment of essential thrombocythemia.

Factors that influence the choice of anagrelide, hydroxyurea, or interferon-alfa (IFN-alpha) for treatment of essential thrombocythemia include efficacy, toxicity, and cost. Anagrelide has the US Food and Drug Administration's approval to be used for treating patients with thrombocythemia secondary to chronic myeloproliferative disorders. In contrast, the use of IFN-alpha and hydroxyurea are considered "off-label.