Prevalence of piriformis syndrome and its associated risk factors among university students in Pakistan: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of piriformis syndrome (PS) among undergraduate university health sciences students aged 18 to 25 and assess the significant predictors of PS regardless of its type and severe PS in particular.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: The study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital of a public university in Pakistan from December 2023 to May 2024.

Unveiling the Biological Activities, Pharmacological Potential, and Health Benefits of Sorbifolin: A Comprehensive Review.

Bioactive phytochemicals act as important factors with preventive and therapeutic potential in the pathogenesis of several disorders, often related to oxidative stress. Many dietary plant secondary metabolites could lower these conditions. Sorbifolin is one of these metabolites.

Adoption of Electronic Medical Records in Healthcare Facilities in the Emirate of Dubai.

Objectives: This paper aimed to assess the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) in healthcare facilities in Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a location where extensive healthcare services are provided. It explored the challenges, milestones, and accomplishments associated with this process.

Methods: A situation analysis was conducted by contacting 2,089 healthcare facilities in Dubai to determine whether they had implemented EMR in their medical practices and to identify the challenges they faced during this process.

The use and perceived value of electronic health information resources by health care professionals in the field of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing in Jazan province, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Healthcare workers increasingly use Electronic Health Information Resources (EHIRs) to make evidence-based decisions. Our study was intended to assess the perception, attitude, and practice of healthcare professionals in medicine, pharmacy, and nursing regarding their perceived value and use of EHIRs.

Methods: We conducted an observational cross-sectional study using a pre-validated questionnaire among healthcare professionals in Jazan province from September 2022 to February 2023.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Population in Jazan Region of Saudi Arabia.

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and refusal vary across countries and among different socio-demographic groups. This study investigates hesitancy related to the COVID-19 vaccine and the associated factors in the rural-community-dominated Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study through an online questionnaire was conducted from February to April 2021 to investigate the extent of vaccine hesitancy related to the COVID-19 vaccine and the associated factors in the Jazan region.

Chromatographic Techniques for Assessment of Bisoprolol Fumarate and Perindopril Arginine in Solid Formulations under Various Stress Conditions and Application to Six Sigma, Content Uniformity, and Comparative Dissolution Approaches.

Background: Antihypertensives bisoprolol fumarate (BIS) and perindopril arginine (PER) were simultaneously determined in their pure, bulk, and combined tablet dosage form.

Objective: This study develops a novel, reproducible, and accurate Reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and Reversed phase ultra-performance liquid chromatography (RP-UPLC) with photodiode array detection techniques, which were then applied to in vitro dissolution studies.

Methods: The first RP-HPLC method relied on isocratic elution using a mobile phase of methanol-0.

Delivering Digital Healthcare for Elderly: A Holistic Framework for the Adoption of Ambient Assisted Living.

Adoption of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies for geriatric healthcare is suboptimal. This study aims to present the AAL Adoption Diamond Framework, encompassing a set of key enablers/barriers as factors, and describe our approach to developing this framework. A systematic literature review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Unlocking the eHealth professionals' career pathways: A case of Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Background: During the past two decades, various sectors and industries have undergone digital transformation. Healthcare is poised to make a full transformation in the near future. Although steps have been taken toward creating an infrastructure for digital health in the Middle East, as it stands, digital health is still an emerging field here.

Exploring the Influential Factors of Consumers' Willingness Toward Using COVID-19 Related Chatbots: An Empirical Study.

Background: Consumers' willingness to use health chatbots can eventually determine if the adoption of health chatbots will succeed in delivering healthcare services for combating COVID-19. However, little research to date has empirically explored influential factors of consumer willingness toward using these novel technologies, and the effect of individual differences in predicting this willingness.

Objectives: This study aims to explore (a) the influential factors of consumers' willingness to use health chatbots related to COVID-19, (b) the effect of individual differences in predicting willingness, and (c) the likelihood of using health chatbots in the near future as well as the challenges/barriers that could hinder peoples' motivations.

Health Chatbots for Fighting COVID-19: a Scoping Review.

Background: Health chatbots are rising in popularity and capability for fighting the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (COVID-19).

Objectives: This study aims to review the current literature on COVID-19 related chatbots in healthcare, identify and characterize these emerging technologies and their applications for combating COVID-19, and describe related challenges.

Methods: The authors conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed literature on COVID-19, guided by the Arksey and O'Malley framework.

Health Apps for Combating COVID-19: Descriptive Review and Taxonomy.

Background: Mobile phone apps have been leveraged to combat the spread of COVID-19. However, little is known about these technologies' characteristics, technical features, and various applications in health care when responding to this public health crisis. The lack of understanding has led developers and governments to make poor choices about apps' designs, which resulted in creating less useful apps that are overall less appealing to consumers due to their technical flaws.

Perceived Utilities of COVID-19 Related Chatbots in Saudi Arabia: a Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Health chatbots are increasingly being utilized in healthcare to combat COVID-19. However, few studies have explored the perception and willingness of end-users toward COVID-19-related chatbots. Furthermore, no studies have been conducted in Saudi Arabia.

A multi-perspective approach to developing the Saudi Health Informatics Competency Framework.

Background: Determining the key sets of competencies necessary for a Health Informatics (HI) professional to practice effectively either solo or as a member of a multidisciplinary team has been challenging for the regulator and registration body responsible for the healthcare workforce in Saudi Arabia, which is the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS).

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a HI competency framework to guide SCFHS to introduce a HI certification program that meets local healthcare needs and is aligned with the national digital health transformation strategy.

Methodology: A two-phase mixed methods approach was used in this study.

Developing a Saudi Health Informatics Competency Framework: A Comparative Assessment.

In 2018, the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) created a national working group composed of key health informatics (HI) professionals, researchers and educators tasked with the development of a draft competency framework for Saudi HI professionals. Over an eight-month period, the research group collected data obtained from literature sources (both academic and grey), international competency standards, participant surveys, focus groups, and expert panel reviews. Through multiple rounds of discussions and graphic visualisation of the information collected using Microsoft PowerPoint and flip charts, the data were summarised and a visual representation of the proposed SHICF was developed.

Development and Validation of a Taxonomy for Characterizing Measurements in Health Self-Quantification.

Background: The use of wearable tools for health self-quantification (SQ) introduces new ways of thinking about one's body and about how to achieve desired health outcomes. Measurements from individuals, such as heart rate, respiratory volume, skin temperature, sleep, mood, blood pressure, food consumed, and quality of surrounding air can be acquired, quantified, and aggregated in a holistic way that has never been possible before. However, health SQ still lacks a formal common language or taxonomy for describing these kinds of measurements.

Person-generated Data in Self-quantification. A Health Informatics Research Program.

Objectives: The availability of internet-connected mobile, wearable and ambient consumer technologies, direct-to-consumer e-services and peer-to-peer social media sites far outstrips evidence about the efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy of using them in healthcare applications. The aim of this paper is to describe one approach to build a program of health informatics research, so as to generate rich and robust evidence about health data and information processing in self-quantification and associated healthcare and health outcomes.

Methods: The paper summarises relevant health informatics research approaches in the literature and presents an example of developing a program of research in the Health and Biomedical Informatics Centre (HaBIC) at the University of Melbourne.

Refining the Concepts of Self-quantification Needed for Health Self-management. A Thematic Literature Review.

Background: Questions like 'How is your health? How are you feeling? How have you been?' now can be answered in a different way due to innovative health self-quantification apps and devices. These apps and devices generate data that enable individuals to be informed and more responsible about their own health.

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to review studies on health SQ, firstly, exploring the concepts that are associated with the users' interaction with and around data for managing health; and secondly, the potential benefits and challenges that are associated with the use of such data to maintain or promote health, as well as their impact on the users' certainty or confidence in taking effective actions upon such data.

Activity Theory as a Theoretical Framework for Health Self-Quantification: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies.

Background: Self-quantification (SQ) is a way of working in which, by using tracking tools, people aim to collect, manage, and reflect on personal health data to gain a better understanding of their own body, health behavior, and interaction with the world around them. However, health SQ lacks a formal framework for describing the self-quantifiers' activities and their contextual components or constructs to pursue these health related goals. Establishing such framework is important because it is the first step to operationalize health SQ fully.

Quantifying the Activities of Self-quantifiers: Management of Data, Time and Health.

Current self-quantification systems (SQS) are limited in their ability to support the acquisition of health-related information essential for individuals to make informed decisions based on their health status. They do not offer services such as data handling and data aggregation in a single place, and using multiple types of tools for this purpose complicates data and health self-management for self-quantifiers. An online survey was used to elicit information from self-quantifiers about the methods they used to undertake key activities related to health self-management.

The use of self-quantification systems for personal health information: big data management activities and prospects.

Background: Self-quantification is seen as an emerging paradigm for health care self-management. Self-quantification systems (SQS) can be used for tracking, monitoring, and quantifying health aspects including mental, emotional, physical, and social aspects in order to gain self-knowledge. However, there has been a lack of a systematic approach for conceptualising and mapping the essential activities that are undertaken by individuals who are using SQS in order to improve health outcomes.

Proposal for a Standardised Reporting Guideline to Annotate Health-related Self-Quantification Experiments.

Self-monitoring experiments are becoming increasingly common as it is the case in other complex environments their interpretation and reproducibility relies heavily in the amount of associated meta-data available. In this work we propose a standardised reporting guideline to annotate these experiments and facilitate their interpretation. The existence of such reporting guideline may lead the development of future standards that would facilitate platform interoperability, data sharing and the improvement in the interpretation of such experiments as well as their reproducibility.