Patients' Health Information Practices and Perceptions of Provider Knowledge in the Case of the Newly Discovered Alpha-gal Food Allergy.

Background: Alpha-gal food allergy is a life-threatening, newly discovered condition with limited presence in authoritative information sources. Sufferers seeking diagnosis are likely to encounter clinicians unfamiliar with the condition.

Objective: To understand information practices of individuals diagnosed with alpha-gal allergy, how they obtained diagnosis, and their perceptions of health-care providers' awareness of the condition.

Beyond novelty effect: a mixed-methods exploration into the motivation for long-term activity tracker use.

Objectives: Activity trackers hold the promise to support people in managing their health through quantified measurements about their daily physical activities. Monitoring personal health with quantified activity tracker-generated data provides patients with an opportunity to self-manage their health. Many have been conducted within short-time frames; makes it difficult to discover the impact of the activity tracker's novelty effect or the reasons for the device's long-term use.

Differential Expression Gene Explorer (DrEdGE): a tool for generating interactive online visualizations of gene expression datasets.

Summary: Differential Expression Gene Explorer (DrEdGE) is a web-based tool that guides genomicists through easily creating interactive online data visualizations, which colleagues can query according to their own conditions to discover genes, samples or patterns of interest. We demonstrate DrEdGE's features with three example websites generated from publicly available datasets-human neuronal tissue, mouse embryonic tissue and Caenorhabditis elegans whole embryos. DrEdGE increases the utility of large genomics datasets by removing technical obstacles to independent exploration.

Improving rare disease classification using imperfect knowledge graph.

Background: Accurately recognizing rare diseases based on symptom description is an important task in patient triage, early risk stratification, and target therapies. However, due to the very nature of rare diseases, the lack of historical data poses a great challenge to machine learning-based approaches. On the other hand, medical knowledge in automatically constructed knowledge graphs (KGs) has the potential to compensate the lack of labeled training examples.

Advancing health equity and access using telemedicine: a geospatial assessment.

Introduction: Health disparity affects both urban and rural residents, with evidence showing that rural residents have significantly lower health status than urban residents. Health equity is the commitment to reducing disparities in health and in its determinants, including social determinants.

Objective: This article evaluates the reach and context of a virtual urgent care (VUC) program on health equity and accessibility with a focus on the rural underserved population.

Human Error Bowtie Analysis to Enhance Patient Safety in Radiation Oncology.

Purpose: Ensuring safety within RT is of paramount importance. To further support and augment patient safety efforts, the purpose of this research was to test and refine a robust methodology for analyzing human errors that defeat individual controls within RT quality assurance (QA) programs.

Methods: The method proposed for performing Bowtie Analysis (BTA) was based on training and recommendations from practitioners in the field of Human Factors and Ergonomics practice.

Factors Determining Patients' Choice Between Mobile Health and Telemedicine: Predictive Analytics Assessment.

Background: The solution to the growing problem of rural residents lacking health care access may be found in the use of telemedicine and mobile health (mHealth). Using mHealth or telemedicine allows patients from rural or remote areas to have better access to health care.

Objective: The objective of this study was to understand factors influencing the choice of communication medium for receiving care, through the analysis of mHealth versus telemedicine encounters with a virtual urgent clinic.

Evidence of heterogeneity in statin-associated type 2 diabetes mellitus risk: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and observational studies.

Aims: To conduct a meta-analysis of statin-associated type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) risk among randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies (OBSs), excluding studies conducted among secondary prevention populations.

Methods: Studies were identified by searching PubMed (1994-present) and EMBASE (1994-present). Articles had to meet the following criteria: (1) follow-up >one year; (2) >50% of participants free of clinically diagnosed ASCVD; (3) adult participants ≥30 years old; (4) reported statin-associated T2D effect estimates; and (5) quantified precision using 95% confidence interval.

Association of the Usability of Electronic Health Records With Cognitive Workload and Performance Levels Among Physicians.

Importance: Current electronic health record (EHR) user interfaces are suboptimally designed and may be associated with excess cognitive workload and poor performance.

Objective: To assess the association between the usability of an EHR system for the management of abnormal test results and physicians' cognitive workload and performance levels.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This quality improvement study was conducted in a simulated EHR environment.

Wearable activity trackers, accuracy, adoption, acceptance and health impact: A systematic literature review.

Wearable activity trackers (WAT) are electronic monitoring devices that enable users to track and monitor their health-related physical fitness metrics including steps taken, level of activity, walking distance, heart rate, and sleep patterns. Despite the proliferation of these devices in various contexts of use and rising research interests, there is limited understanding of the broad research landscape. The purpose of this systematic review is therefore to synthesize the existing wealth of research on WAT, and to provide a comprehensive summary based on common themes and approaches.

Evaluating visual analytics for health informatics applications: a systematic review from the American Medical Informatics Association Visual Analytics Working Group Task Force on Evaluation.

Objective: This article reports results from a systematic literature review related to the evaluation of data visualizations and visual analytics technologies within the health informatics domain. The review aims to (1) characterize the variety of evaluation methods used within the health informatics community and (2) identify best practices.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines.

Unpacking healthcare waste management at rural village health clinics in the Ntcheu District (Malawi).

Management of healthcare waste in low- and middle-income countries lacks a straightforward solution, especially where rural health services are provided. The purpose of our case study was to explore the knowledge and practices of health surveillance assistants operating at rural village health clinics in Ntcheu District, Malawi, with regard to the collection, segregation, transportion, treatment, and disposal of healthcare waste. Data were collected from 81 clinics.

Research evidence on strategies enabling integration of electronic health records in the health care systems of low- and middle-income countries: A literature review.

Integration of electronic health records (EHRs) in the national health care systems of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is vital for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all people of all ages. National EHR systems are increasing, but mostly in developed countries. Besides, there is limited research evidence on successful strategies for ensuring integration of national EHRs in the health care systems of LMICs.

"Stay strong! keep ya head up! move on! it gets better!!!!": resilience processes in the healthMpowerment online intervention of young black gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

Overlapping stigmas related to sexual minority-, race/ethnicity-, and HIV-status pose barriers to HIV prevention and care and the creation of supportive social networks for young, Black, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). A risk-based approach to addressing the HIV epidemic focuses on what is lacking and reinforces negative stereotypes about already-marginalized populations. In contrast, a strengths-based approach builds on Black GBMSM's existing strengths, recognizing the remarkable ways in which they are overcoming barriers to HIV prevention and care.

Predicting Radiation Therapy Process Reliability Using Voluntary Incident Learning System Data.

Purpose: This study aimed to present an innovative approach to quantify, visualize, and predict radiation therapy (RT) process reliability using data captured from a voluntary incident learning system, with an overall aim to improve patient safety outcomes.

Methods And Materials: We analyzed 111 reported deviations that were tripped and caught within 159 mapped RT process steps included within 7 major stages of RT delivery, 94 of which were any type of quality assurance (QA) controls. This allowed for us to compute the trip rate and fail-to-catch-rate (FCR) per each QA control with the available data.

Health and Fitness Apps for Hands-Free Voice-Activated Assistants: Content Analysis.

Background: Hands-free voice-activated assistants and their associated devices have recently gained popularity with the release of commercial products, including Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Voice-activated assistants have many potential use cases in healthcare including education, health tracking and monitoring, and assistance with locating health providers. However, little is known about the types of health and fitness apps available for voice-activated assistants as it is an emerging market.

Developing and assessing electronic checklists for safety mindfulness, workload, and performance.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to propose a set of innovative principles for the effective design of electronic checklists to enhance safety mindfulness (a specific safety mindful mindset that offers the opportunity to operate more preemptively during routine quality assurance tasks) and discuss some of our preliminary results from testing our proposed electronic checklist with dosimetrists and physicists.

Methods And Materials: A multidisciplinary team designed, developed, and evaluated the utility of the electronic checklist (vs paper-based checklist) to promote safety mindfulness. Subjective workload was measured at the end of each assessment/scenario.

Promoting safety mindfulness: Recommendations for the design and use of simulation-based training in radiation therapy.

There is a need to better prepare radiation therapy (RT) providers to safely operate within the health information technology (IT) sociotechnical system. Simulation-based training has been preemptively used to yield meaningful improvements during providers' interactions with health IT, including RT settings. Therefore, on the basis of the available literature and our experience, we propose principles for the effective design and use of simulated scenarios and describe a conceptual framework for a debriefing approach to foster successful training that is focused on safety mindfulness during RT professionals' interactions with health IT.

The User Knows What to Call It: Incorporating Patient Voice Through User-Contributed Tags on a Participatory Platform About Health Management.

Background: Body listening, described as the act of paying attention to the body's signals and cues, can be an important component of long-term health management.

Objective: The aim of this study was to introduce and evaluate the Body Listening Project, an innovative effort to engage the public in the creation of a public resource-to leverage collective wisdom in the health domain. This project involved a website where people could contribute their experiences of and dialogue with others concerning body listening and self-management.

Research gaps in routine health information system design barriers to data quality and use in low- and middle-income countries: A literature review.

Despite the potential impact of health information system (HIS) design barriers on health data quality and use and, ultimately, health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), no comprehensive literature review has been conducted to study them in this context. We therefore conducted a formal literature review to understand system design barriers to data quality and use in LMICs and to identify any major research gaps related understanding how system design affects data use. We conducted an electronic search across 4 scientific databases-PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Global Health-and consulted a data use expert.

A constant conversation: tuning into and harmonizing the needs and priorities of the body and mind.

Purpose: Individuals rely upon many types of information to manage an illness, including information provided by their own bodies. This study investigated how people tune into and manage the flow of information from their bodies to manage their health.

Method: We developed a platform for participants to share and collaboratively reflect on how they engaged in this dialogic process, in which participants contributed to a discussion on topics relating to body listening and body awareness.

Comparative Visualization of the RNA Suboptimal Conformational Ensemble In Vivo.

When a ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule folds, it often does not adopt a single, well-defined conformation. The folding energy landscape of an RNA is highly dependent on its nucleotide sequence and molecular environment. Cellular molecules sometimes alter the energy landscape, thereby changing the ensemble of likely low-energy conformations.

Improving radiation oncology providers' workload and performance: Can simulation-based training help?

Purpose: To help with ongoing safety challenges in radiation therapy (RT), the objective of this research was to develop and assess the impact of a simulation-based training intervention on radiation oncology providers' workload and performance during treatment planning and quality assurance (QA) tasks.

Methods And Materials: Eighteen radiation oncology professionals completed routine treatment planning and QA tasks on 2 clinical scenarios in a simulation laboratory as part of a prospective institutional review board-approved study. Workload was measured at the end of each assessment/scenario using the NASA Task-Load Index.