Online journal of public health informatics最新文献

{"title":"Attitudes of Health Professionals Toward Digital Health Data Security in Northwest Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Study.","authors":"Ayenew Sisay Gebeyew, Zegeye Regasa Wordofa, Ayana Alebachew Muluneh, Adamu Ambachew Shibabaw, Agmasie Damtew Walle, Sefefe Birhanu Tizie, Muluken Belachew Mengistie, Mitiku Kassaw Takillo, Bayou Tilahun Assaye, Adualem Fentahun Senishaw, Gizaw Hailye, Aynadis Worku Shimie, Fikadu Wake Butta","doi":"10.2196/57764","DOIUrl":"10.2196/57764","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Digital health is a new health field initiative. Health professionals require security in digital places because cybercriminals target health care professionals. Therefore, millions of medical records have been breached for money. Regarding digital security, there is a gap in studies in limited-resource countries. Therefore, surveying health professionals' attitudes toward digital health data security has a significant purpose for interventions.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to assess the attitudes of health professionals toward digital health data security and their associated factors in a resource-limited country.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted to measure health professionals' attitudes toward digital health data security. The sample size was calculated using a single population. A pretest was conducted to measure consistency. Binary logistic regression was used to identify associated factors. For multivariable logistic analysis, a P value ≤.20 was selected using Stata software (version 16; StataCorp LP).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the total sample, 95% (402/423) of health professionals participated in the study. Of all participants, 63.2% (254/402) were male, and the mean age of the respondents was 34.5 (SD 5.87) years. The proportion of health professionals who had a favorable attitude toward digital health data security at specialized teaching hospitals was 60.9% (95% CI 56.0%-65.6%). Educational status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.292, 95% CI 1.16-9.34), basic computer skills (AOR 1.807, 95% CI 1.11-2.938), knowledge (AOR 3.238, 95% CI 2.0-5.218), and perceived usefulness (AOR 1.965, 95% CI 1.063-3.632) were factors associated with attitudes toward digital health data security.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study aimed to assess health professionals' attitudes toward digital health data security. Interventions on educational status, basic computer skills, knowledge, and perceived usefulness are important for improving health professionals' attitudes. Improving the attitudes of health professionals related to digital data security is necessary for digitalization in the health care arena.</p>","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e57764"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11559787/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142591567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contact Tracing Different Age Groups During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Study From South-West Germany.","authors":"Christopher Michael Dyer, Alexandra-Teodora Negoescu, Matthias Borchert, Christoph Harter, Anne Kühn, Peter Dambach, Michael Marx","doi":"10.2196/54578","DOIUrl":"10.2196/54578","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Contact tracing was implemented in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent disease spread, reduce mortality, and avoid overburdening health care systems. In several countries, including Germany, new systems were needed to trace potentially infected individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objective: &lt;/strong&gt;Using data collected in the Rhine-Neckar and Heidelberg (RNK/HD) districts in southwest Germany (population: 706,974), this study examines the overall effectiveness and efficiency of contact tracing in different age groups and stages of the pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;From January 27, 2020, to April 30, 2022, the RNK/HD Health Authority collected data on COVID-19 infections, quarantines, and deaths. Data on infection, quarantine, and death was grouped by age (young: 0-19 years; adult: 20-65 years; and senior citizens: &gt;65 years) and pandemic phase (infectious wave plus subsequent lull periods) and analyzed for proportion, risk, and relative risk (RR). The overall effectiveness and efficiency of contact tracing were determined by calculating quarantine sensitivity (proportion of the infected population captured in quarantine), positive predictive value (PPV; proportion of the quarantined population that was infected), and the weighted Fβ-score (combined predictive performance).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Of 706,974 persons living in RNK/HD during the study period, 192,175 (27.2%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, 74,810 (10.4%) were quarantined, and 932 (0.132%) died following infection. Compared with adults, the RR of infection was lower among senior citizens (0.401, 95% CI 0.395-0.407) and while initially lower for young people, was ultimately higher for young people across all 5 phases (first-phase RR 0.502, 95% CI 0.438-0.575; all phases RR 1.35, 95% CI 1.34-1.36). Of 932 COVID-19-associated deaths during the study period, 852 were senior citizens (91.4%), with no deaths reported among young people. Relative to adults, senior citizens had the lowest risk of quarantine (RR 0.436, 95% CI 0.424-0.448), while young people had the highest RR (2.94, 95% CI 2.90-2.98). The predictive performance of contact tracing was highest during the second and third phases of the pandemic (Fβ-score=0.272 and 0.338, respectively). In the second phase of the pandemic, 5810 of 16,814 COVID-19 infections were captured within a total quarantine population of 39,687 (sensitivity 34.6%; PPV 14.6%). In the third phase of the pandemic, 3492 of 8803 infections were captured within a total quarantine population of 16,462 (sensitivity 39.7%; PPV 21.2%).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;The use of quarantine aligned with increasing risks of COVID-19 infection and death. High levels of quarantine sensitivity before the introduction of the vaccine show how contact tracing systems became increasingly effective at capturing and quarantining the infected population. High levels of PPV and Fβ-scores indicate, moreover, that c","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e54578"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11558225/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142549408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Data Analytics to Support Policy Making for Noncommunicable Diseases: Scoping Review.","authors":"Giorgos Dritsakis, Ioannis Gallos, Maria-Elisavet Psomiadi, Angelos Amditis, Dimitra Dionysiou","doi":"10.2196/59906","DOIUrl":"10.2196/59906","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>There is an emerging need for evidence-based approaches harnessing large amounts of health care data and novel technologies (such as artificial intelligence) to optimize public health policy making.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this review was to explore the data analytics tools designed specifically for policy making in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their implementation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A scoping review was conducted after searching the PubMed and IEEE databases for articles published in the last 10 years.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Nine articles that presented 7 data analytics tools designed to inform policy making for NCDs were reviewed. The tools incorporated descriptive and predictive analytics. Some tools were designed to include recommendations for decision support, but no pilot studies applying prescriptive analytics have been published. The tools were piloted with various conditions, with cancer being the least studied condition. Implementation of the tools included use cases, pilots, or evaluation workshops that involved policy makers. However, our findings demonstrate very limited real-world use of analytics by policy makers, which is in line with previous studies.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Despite the availability of tools designed for different purposes and conditions, data analytics is not widely used to support policy making for NCDs. However, the review demonstrates the value and potential use of data analytics to support policy making. Based on the findings, we make suggestions for researchers developing digital tools to support public health policy making. The findings will also serve as input for the European Union-funded research project ONCODIR developing a policy analytics dashboard for the prevention of colorectal cancer as part of an integrated platform.</p>","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e59906"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11549582/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142514274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improving Vaccine Clinic Efficiency Through the CANImmunize Platform.","authors":"Ananda Kuatsidzo, Kumanan Wilson, Sydney Ruller, Blake Daly, Roland Halil, Daniel Kobewka","doi":"10.2196/53226","DOIUrl":"10.2196/53226","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Unlabelled: </strong>Our objective was to evaluate the CANImmunize digital solution and measure the impact on workflow and appointment booking at Bruyère Hospital.</p>","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e53226"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11498317/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142482543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Facilitators, Barriers, and Potential Impacts of Implementation of e-Pharmacy in India and its Potential Impact on Cost, Quality, and Access to Medicines: Scoping Review.","authors":"Aditi Apte, Heber Rew Bright, Sandeep Kadam, Thambu David Sundarsanam, Sujith J Chandy","doi":"10.2196/51080","DOIUrl":"10.2196/51080","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>e-Pharmacy can potentially solve problems related to the quality of services and products, cost, and access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries. This review aims to understand the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of e-pharmacy in India.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This scoping review aimed (1) to understand the facilitators and barriers to the use of e-pharmacy in India and (2) to estimate the potential for e-pharmacy in India for improving access to medication, improving the quality of services and medicines, and decreasing costs of medications.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>All published and gray literature from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2021, relating to e-pharmacy, was searched from MEDLINE, Scopus, ProQuest, and Google using a systematic search strategy.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 1464 titles and abstracts were screened, of which 47 full-texts were included in the review. e-Pharmacy can potentially improve access to medications for remote areas, and old and debilitated individuals. e-Pharmacies can enable lean supply chain management, lower cost, and allow easy tracking of dispensed medicines. There is potential for integration of e-pharmacy services into the national program of Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana. However, the country is not adequately regulated to prevent the growth of illicit e-pharmacies. Lack of global accreditation and internet coverage, digital literacy, and transnational access are other challenges.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>E-pharmacy has the potential to improve universal health coverage in India by improving access to medicines and lowering the overall cost of health care. However, future growth will need specific regulations and accreditation mechanisms.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>Open Science Forum; https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6R9YQ.</p>","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e51080"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11499724/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142395785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mobile Apps for Vaccination Services: Content Analysis and Quality Assessment.","authors":"Chenchen Zhang, Xing Guo, Rui Zhu, Wenjie Hou, Lingmeng Wang, Fuzhi Wang, Li Zhang, Dan Luo","doi":"10.2196/50364","DOIUrl":"10.2196/50364","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Vaccination services are increasingly in demand by the public, and mobile apps are an effective tool to meet that demand. However, the characteristics and quality of these apps are unknown.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>Commonly used vaccination service apps on the market were surveyed with regard to quality, service content, and user experience to evaluate and guide users.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The Qimai Data mobile app data analytics platform was used to search for common vaccination service apps by keyword, and the WeChat and Alipay platforms were searched for apps. The apps included in the study were independently evaluated by two reviewers using the Mobile Application Rating Scale, and the service content and user experience of the apps were analyzed. The intragroup correlation coefficient between raters was used to measure interrater reliability.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the app stores of the four major Android platforms and the iOS app store, 1092 and 207 apps were found, respectively; 189 WeChat applets and 30 Alipay applets were also found. A total of 29 apps was ultimately included in this study according to the inclusion criteria, including 21 independent apps, 4 WeChat applets, and 4 Alipay applets. Significant differences were found between independent apps and applets in terms of the quality score (t_449.57=-5.301; P<.001) and the subjective quality score (z=-4.753; P<.001). No significant differences were found between iOS and Android platforms in terms of the quality score (t₁₄₀₄=-2.55; P=.80) and the subjective quality score (z=-0.137; P=.89). There was good intragroup consistency among the raters.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this study, independent apps and nonindependent apps that rely on social and payment platforms for implementation were included in the vaccination services category. The overall quality of these apps was acceptable. Nonindependent running apps were found to have slightly lower scores and showed room for improvement, and scores for the participatory apps were found to be generally low overall.</p>","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e50364"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11487208/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142367755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Harnessing Generalizable Real-World Ophthalmic Big Data: Descriptive Analysis of the Bodhya Eye Consortium Model for Collaborative Research.","authors":"Ishaana Sood, Shalinder Sabherwal, Umang Mathur, Elesh Jain, Madhu Bhadauria, Deepshikha Agrawal, Ashi Khurana, Vikas Mittal, Avinash Mahindrakar, Vishal Govindahari, Sucheta Kulkarni, Ken K Nischal","doi":"10.2196/53370","DOIUrl":"10.2196/53370","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Eye care organizations and professionals worldwide are increasingly focusing on bridging the gap between population health and medical practice. Recent advances in genomics and anthropology have revealed that most Indian groups trace their ancestry to a blend of 2 genetically distinct populations: Ancestral North Indians, who share genetic affinities with Central Asians, Middle Easterners, Caucasians, and Europeans; and Ancestral South Indians, genetically distinct from groups outside the Indian subcontinent. Studies conducted among North Indian populations can therefore offer insights that are potentially applicable to these diverse global populations, underscoring significant implications for global health.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objective: &lt;/strong&gt;The Bodhya Eye Consortium is a collaboration among 8 high-volume nonprofit eyecare organizations from across North India. The consortium aims to harness real-world data consistently and with assured quality for collaborative research. This paper outlines the formation of the consortium as a proposed model for controlled collaborative research among the leading eyecare organizations of North India.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;We detail the creation and effective implementation of a consortium following a structured road map that included planning and assessment, establishing an exploratory task force, defining specialty areas, setting objectives and priorities, and conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. Central to this process was a comprehensive data audit aimed at standardizing data collection across all participating organizations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;The consortium currently comprises 9 organizations, each represented in the governance structure by the Governing Council. Scientific standards for published research are established and overseen by the Scientific Committee, while the Conflict Resolution Committee manages any unresolved disputes. The consortium's working groups, organized by various eyecare specialties, collaborate on research projects through virtual interactions. A foundational step in this process was the organizationwide data audit, which revealed that most organizations complied with accurate and standardized data collection practices. Organizations with deficiencies in data completeness developed action plans to address them. Subsequently, the consortium adopted data collection proformas, contributing to the publication of high-quality manuscripts characterized by low dropout rates.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;The collaborative research conducted by the Bodhya Eye Consortium-a group of high-volume eyecare organizations primarily from North India-offers a unique opportunity to contribute to scientific knowledge across various domains of eyecare. By leveraging the established heterogeneity of anthropological and genomic origins within the population, the findings can be generalizable, to some ","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e53370"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11474137/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142333958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of Drug and Herbal Medicinal Promotions on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Relation to World Health Organization Ethical Criteria and South African Health Products Regulatory Authority Guidelines in South Africa: Cross-Sectional Content Analysis.","authors":"Rujeko Samanthia Chimukuche, Julia Ndlazi, Lucky Thembani Mtolo, Kristien Bird, Janet Seeley","doi":"10.2196/58378","DOIUrl":"10.2196/58378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Consideration of ethics in the promotion of medications is essential to safeguard the health of consumers, particularly during health crises. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) have established stringent standards to ensure the integrity of pharmaceutical promotions and safeguard public health, including advertisements on the internet and social media platforms. However, the dynamic nature of online advertising poses challenges for monitoring and enforcing ethical standards.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The study aimed (1) to examine the COVID-19 drug and medicinal promotions across online platforms and social media from 2020 to 2022 in South Africa and (2) to ensure that drug promotions adhere to ethical guidelines outlined by the WHO and SAPHRA.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional content analysis was conducted to assess drug and medicinal advertisements across various internet and social media platforms. A systematic approach was used to identify and analyze promotional content, focusing on adherence to ethical guidelines outlined by WHO and SAPHRA. Data were collected and analyzed to determine the extent of compliance and identify any potential violations or areas for improvement.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 14 online drug advertisements were included in this analysis. Our findings show that most of the drugs advertised did not meet the regulations and guidelines provided by WHO and SAHPRA. There were omissions about active ingredients, proprietary names, adverse drug responses, precautions, and overdosage and adverse drug reactions. Traditional medicines were not fully consistent with the approved WHO ethical criteria data sheet.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our analysis highlights the critical importance of ensuring compliance with ethical guidelines in drug promotions on the internet and social media platforms. There is a need for continued vigilance and enforcement efforts to uphold ethical standards and protect the health of the public. Ongoing monitoring and collaboration between national drug regulatory agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and online platforms will be essential for promoting responsible advertising. In addition, safety monitoring and pharmacovigilance systems for herbal medicinal products are yet to be established.</p>","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e58378"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11447434/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142302826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Population Digital Health: Continuous Health Monitoring and Profiling at Scale.","authors":"Naser Hossein Motlagh, Agustin Zuniga, Ngoc Thi Nguyen, Huber Flores, Jiangtao Wang, Sasu Tarkoma, Mattia Prosperi, Sumi Helal, Petteri Nurmi","doi":"10.2196/60261","DOIUrl":"10.2196/60261","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Unstructured: </strong>Our article provides a viewpoint on population digital health - the use of digital health information sourced from Health IoT and wearable devices for population health modeling - as an emerging research initiative for offering an integrated approach for continuous monitoring and profiling of diseases and health conditions at multiple spatial resolutions. Global healthcare systems are increasingly challenged by rising costs as life expectancy and the average age of people increases. Population digital health looks at how wearables, IoT, and AI can offer an alternative approach for understanding health issues within the population, significantly reducing cost and improving the completeness of information collection by current practices, such as electronic health records - including integration with mhealth personal health records - or survey instruments. This significantly improves our collective understanding of public health priorities, including factors affecting disease prevalence, occurrence and risk factors, ultimately helping to design targeted programmatic interventions apt at reducing the cost of healthcare provision and leading to better life quality, also reducing disparities. Realizing this vision requires overcoming several unique challenges, including data quality, availability, sparsity, and social and technical barriers in the use of health technologies. Our article highlights these challenges and offers solutions and empirical evidence to demonstrate how these challenges can be addressed. As population digital health addresses the impact large-scale sensor data collection and AI can have on improving healthcare delivery and society, we sincerely believe the topic is well within the journal's scope and would be highly interesting to its readership. Our experiments using a combination of real-world health IoT data and electronic health records also highlight the potential cross-disciplinary benefits of population digital health and challenge the research community to address the vision and challenges. Therefore, our article serves the dual purpose of challenging the research community and offering insights into the use of AI and sensor data, and how population digital health can serve as a catalyst for further research by the broader research community.</p>","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142302827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Public Perceptions of Treating Opioid Use Disorder With Deep Brain Stimulation: Comment Analysis Study.","authors":"Patricia Henegan, Jack Koczara, Robyn Bluhm, Laura Y Cabrera","doi":"10.2196/49924","DOIUrl":"10.2196/49924","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The number of opioid-related deaths in the United States has more than tripled over the past 7 years, with a steep increase beginning at the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an urgent need for novel treatment options that can help alleviate the individual and social effects of refractory opioid use disorder (OUD). Deep brain stimulation (DBS), an intervention that involves implanting electrodes in the brain to deliver electrical impulses, is one potential treatment. Currently in clinical trials for many psychiatric conditions, including OUD, DBS's use for psychiatric indications is not without controversy. Several studies have examined ethical issues raised by using DBS to counter treatment-resistant depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and eating disorders. In contrast, there has been limited literature regarding the use of DBS for OUD.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to gain empirical neuroethical insights into public perceptions regarding the use of DBS for OUD, specifically via the analysis of web-based comments on news media stories about the topic.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Qualitative thematic content analysis was performed on 2 Washington Post newspaper stories that described a case of DBS being used to treat OUD. A total of 292 comments were included in the analysis, 146 comments from each story, to identify predominant themes raised by commenters.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Predominant themes raised by commenters across the 2 samples included the hopes and expectations with treatment outcomes, whether addiction is a mental health disorder, and issues related to resource allocation. Controversial comments regarding DBS as a treatment method for OUD seemingly decreased when comparing the first printed newspaper story to the second. In comparison, the number of comments relating to therapeutic need increased over time.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The general public's perspectives on DBS as a treatment method for OUD elucidated themes via this qualitative thematic content analysis that include overarching sociopolitical issues, positions on the use of technology, and technological and scientific issues. A better understanding of the public perceptions around the use of DBS for OUD can help address misinformation and misperceptions about the use of DBS for OUD, and identify similarities and differences regarding ethical concerns when DBS is used specifically for OUD compared to other psychiatric disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":74345,"journal":{"name":"Online journal of public health informatics","volume":"16 ","pages":"e49924"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11364942/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141992544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}