مجله انفورماتیک سلامت و زیست پزشکی
سال نهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 34، زمستان 1401)

Recent developments in the use of mobile technologies have given rise to opportunities for more effective and cost-efficient services for people with chronic diseases. Considering the relatively high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Iran and the lack of a native application for the self-management of many complications of this disorder, the present study aims to develop and evaluate a mobile application for PTSD self-management.

This developmental-applied study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, interviews and a literature review were carried out to identify users’ requirements and expectations of the application. Then, the application was modeled, designed, developed, and tested based on the requirements. In the second stage, the usability of developed application was evaluated by experts and users.

The following services were implemented in the application: psychoeducation, coping skills, breathing exercise, relaxation, positive affect, social support, self-assessment, reminders, useful links, and self-monitoring. According to experts’ evaluation, the application was of acceptable quality (78.25%). The application was relatively acceptable from the users’ point of view (68.67%). In the evaluation process, experts were most satisfied with the functionality of the application (80 %), and users were most satisfied with the application’s ease of use (76%).

Using the application can be useful in promoting access to healthcare services for patients with PTSD, and in addition to saving time and costs, it can be effective in the self-management of this disorder.

Using artificial intelligence tools in pharmacogenomics is one of the latest bioinformatics research fields. One of the most important drugs that determining its initial therapeutic dose is difficult is the anticoagulant warfarin. Warfarin is an oral anticoagulant that, due to its narrow therapeutic window and complex interrelationships of individual factors, the selection of its optimal dose is challenging.

Among the relatively successful methods of kernel-based estimation, comparison and identification of suitable kernels have not been researched. In the present research, while carefully examining this approach, different features of selection algorithms were analyzed based on expert opinions, and an appropriate subset of efficient predictor variables was identified for dose estimation.

In the current study, a dataset collected by the International Warfarin Consortium was used. The results showed that the support vector machine with a suitable kernel and a subset of the proposed features can successfully predict the ideal dose of warfarin for a significant percentage of patients with an error of approximately 0.7 mg per week.

The estimation was conducted using the least squares version of the support vector regression based on a suitable kernel and feature selection strategy. In this method, a better approach for predicting the optimal therapeutic dose of warfarin was presented, which can significantly reduce the wrong dose error and its consequences.

The increasing growth of science and specialized articles in various fields, especially in health and treatment, has faced researchers with the challenge of keeping up with this progress. Review research provides researchers with the possibility to gain access to an acceptable and categorized amount of information by spending less time and money and helps them reach the original essence of the research. However, carrying out such research is very difficult because it requires deep knowledge of the specific field as well as reviewing several studies to find and gather appropriate information. By developing a system, we intended to help researchers in the process of categorizing, extracting, and aggregating data and findings. This study aimed to design and implement a database management system to review studies in the field of medicine and health.

This practical study was done in 2022, and associated with software development. The system was developed in three stages as follows: 1) analysis, 2) implementation, and 3) testing and troubleshooting. This system is implemented using the frameworks based on JavaScript, Angular on the front-end side and Node JS on the back-end side. In the final stage, the system was tested using actual research, and possible defects and problems were detected and solved; finally, the system was handed over to the research team to conduct new research.

In the process of testing the system, we found that by using this system, the accuracy of the information entry process can be greatly increased, and the analysis of the results can be done online with high speed and accuracy.

The results of the present analysis can help policy makers for appropriate legislation and business managers to solve identified problems and increase user trust and satisfaction.

One of the main challenges of the health system is improving the quality of healthcare services by adjusting the costs. The right choice of tools will bring economic savings besides excellent service quality. Since medical supplies are among the fundamental and costly elements in providing services, the expertise of purchasing has become an important and complex issue. This study aimed to prioritize criteria for purchasing medical supplies.

This research is an applied study conducted with a descriptive survey method. In this study, the criteria collected from related studies and completed with the opinion of experts were prioritized and weighted for four categories of medical supplies by the linear best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method using Lingo and Excel software.

By weighting sixteen sub-criteria of purchasing medical supplies in the form of five categories, the importance of each criterion was determined. According to the results, the two sub-criteria of "quality" and "price" were recognized as the most important and "seller's record" as the least important indicator in the purchase of medical supplies.

Using the linear best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method with definite consistency of results and high reliability led to the prioritization and accurate weighting of criteria for purchasing supplies. Paying attention to the indicators in the purchase of medical supplies, in addition to guaranteeing the quality and continuity of services, will lead to a significant reduction in supply costs.

In recent years, especially with the spread of the COVID-19 disease, the use of electronic health services has increased greatly. Along with the growth and development of the use of electronic services among users, the concern about ethical and legal issues increases. The purpose of this article was to review the current state of electronic health provision by active platforms in this field and to identify the challenges and problems of users in using these services to achieve the desired state.

This qualitative study was conducted using the content analysis method. User comments were collected in Bazaar and Myket mobile applications. Then, using the purposeful sampling method, 300 selected comments containing users' difficulties were analyzed by qualitative content analysis method based on the six steps proposed by Graneheim & Lundman using MAXQDA software.

The most important problems reported by users of e-health services fall into two main categories: issues related to care and issues related to the service provider's platform; these difficulties are classified into six subcategories, including doctor-patient relationships, the standard of care, platform quality, user feedback, responsibility, and service tariff. Among the user comments, the most dissatisfaction was associated with the subcategory of the platform's responsibility and accountability (especially the issue of not receiving services despite paying, poor support, and no refunds), followed by issues related to the standard of care.

The results of the present analysis can help policymakers with appropriate legislation and regulation and help business managers with solving identified problems. It also increases user satisfaction and trust.

Nowadays, the world of technology is facing a growing phenomenon called the Internet of Things (IoT). The purpose of this study is to provide the infrastructure requirements, service model, and conceptual model for a smart hospital based on IoT, which is a safe and reliable method due to the integration of exchanges between objects.

In this strategic applied study, the infrastructure requirements of a smart hospital based on IoT are explained explains. First, basic requirements were prepared through library studies and, by setting up a questionnaire for medical staff and specialists in medical informatics, information technology, and health information technology, they were evaluated and then finalized using the Delphi technique. Then, based on extracted requirements, the service model of a smart hospital was presented. Finally, the conceptual model of IoT-based smart hospital infrastructure was suggested.

Thirty functional and non-functional requirements for IoT-based smart hospital infrastructure were determined. After that, the proposed model of services that can be provided in the hospital, including infrastructure, core and value-added services, was presented. Then, a conceptual model that includes the health ecosystem of the country, consisting of the levels of communication and information infrastructure, digital service systems, and the health system was provided.

Agreement on the requirements, service and conceptual model, will help to design and implement the IoT-based smart hospital and make it more accurate and simple, according to factors affecting such as precision, speed and reliability in healthcare.

Computerized programs for brain empowerment with regular, intensive, and continuous cognitive exercises improve cognitive functions such as attention in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This review study aimed to identify effective computerized programs for improving attention in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

This descriptive narrative review was done in 2018 through library review and searching keywords including "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder", "computerized cognitive rehabilitation programs", and "play therapy" in databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The results of this review were investigated through the semi-structured interview and classified based on the attention areas of children and adolescents with ADHD.

Based on the review, Caption Log, Pay Attention, Cogmed Working Memory, Memory GYM, Attention GYM, Brainware Safari, 8 Sciences' ACTIVATET, Lumosity, My Happy Neuron, Smart Driver, and educational packages such as Maghzine were effective programs to improve different types of attention (focused, divided, intermittent, continuous, and selective) in the ADHD children aged four years old and older.

Considering the significant effects of computerized cognitive rehabilitation programs in empowering cognitive skills such as attention, their use as a complementary treatment in improving the quality of life of children and adolescents with ADHD is promising. However, it is suggested to evaluate such programs with larger samples, transfer their educational effects to daily life, and improve their quality by providing more components of such programs.

Due to the increasing use of virtual reality (VR) technology in the healthcare field, the present study was conducted to systematically investigate the use of VR in hospitals.

To access related articles, the keywords "Virtual Reality" and "Hospital" and their synonyms were searched in databases of Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar without a time limit until August 15, 2022. The original articles that were published in English and dealt with "the application of virtual reality in the hospital" were included in the study, and their characteristics were analyzed.

Eleven articles were included in the present study, in which various applications for VR in the hospital environment have been reported. The most common uses of VR in hospitals are as follows: managing behavioral symptoms, creating relaxation and inducing positive emotions in patients, providing treatment and physical, mental, and emotional rehabilitation in patients, providing training for care providers in different hospital departments, virtual presence at home for hospitalized children and teenagers; VR can also work as a supplement to the procedure for the children's lives and an adaptive substitute for experiences in the real environment for the medical residents..

Considering the positive impact of using VR in hospitals, using this technology as an auxiliary tool to improve education, treatment, and prevention in the healthcare system is suggested.

A quality criterion for evaluating information systems (ISs) is their usability, which can be determined by examining the user interface. User interface issues may generate user errors, dissatisfaction, and inefficiency, making IS adoption difficult. Therefore, the International Standard Organization recommends usability testing to evaluate IS acceptability and deployment. So, this study aimed to develop a native model for the usability testing of hospital information systems (HISs) via heuristic evaluation (HE).

This multi-staged qualitative study was conducted in 2020; ScienceDirect, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Civilica, and Magiran databases were searched. After meeting the inclusion criteria, the articles were scored. Then, the initial model was created in the following stage by extracting data from library sources and validated using the Delphi technique, and consequently, the final model was presented.

: The native model was developed using thirteen principles: 1) visibility of system status, 2) the match between the system and the real world, 3) users’ control and freedom, 4) consistency and standards, 5) error prevention, 6) recognition rather than recall, 7) flexibility and efficiency of use, 8) aesthetic and minimalist design, 9) helping users recognize, diagnose, and recover errors, 10) documentation and help, 11) skill , 12) pleasurable, respectful interaction with users, and 13) privacy protection.

This study demonstrated that localizing the usability evaluation of HISs based on trustworthy sources and HE is a wise strategy, because not only it avoids repetitive processes, but also it uses the best up-to-date resources to enable the presentation of the highest evaluation quality.