Journal of medical Internet research
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialFeatures predicting weight loss in overweight or obese participants in a web-based intervention: randomized trial.
Obesity remains a serious issue in many countries. Web-based programs offer good potential for delivery of weight loss programs. Yet, many Internet-delivered weight loss studies include support from medical or nutritional experts, and relatively little is known about purely web-based weight loss programs. ⋯ Relative to a static control, inclusion of social networking features and personalized meal planning recommendations in a web-based weight loss program did not demonstrate additive effects for user weight loss or retention. These features did, however, increase the average number of days that a user engaged with the system. For users of the supportive websites, greater use of the weight tracker tool was associated with greater weight loss.
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialWeb-based nursing intervention for self-management of pain after cardiac surgery: pilot randomized controlled trial.
Most adults undergoing cardiac surgery suffer from moderate to severe pain for up to 6 days after surgery. Individual barriers and attitudes regarding pain and its relief make patients reluctant to report their pain and ask for analgesic medication, which results in inadequate pain management. More innovative educational interventions for postoperative pain relief are needed. We developed a Web-based nursing intervention to influence patient's involvement in postoperative pain management. The intervention (SOULAGE-TAVIE) includes a preoperative 30-minute Web-based session and 2 brief face-to-face postoperative booster sessions. The Web application generates reflective activities and tailored educational messages according to patients' beliefs and attitudes. The messages are transmitted through videos of a virtual nurse, animations, stories, and texts. ⋯ This pilot study provides promising results to support the benefits of this new Web-tailored approach that can increase accessibility to health education and promote pain relief without generating more costs.
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2012
An evaluation of web-based clinical practice guidelines for managing problems associated with cannabis use.
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance, and multiple treatment options and avenues exist for managing its use. There has been an increase in the development of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to improve standards of care in this area, many of which are disseminated online. However, little is known about the quality and accessibility of these online CPGs. ⋯ Developers of CPGs should improve their reporting of development processes, conflicts of interest, and CPGs' applicability to practice, while remaining cognizant that long guidelines may deter implementation. Treatment providers need to be aware that the quality of cannabis-related CPGs varies substantially.
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2012
Superusers in social networks for smoking cessation: analysis of demographic characteristics and posting behavior from the Canadian Cancer Society's smokers' helpline online and StopSmokingCenter.net.
Online social networks are popular components of behavior-change websites. Research has identified the participation of certain network members who assume leadership roles by providing support, advice, and direction to other members. In the literature, these individuals have been variously defined as key players, posters, active users, or caretakers. Despite their identification, very little research has been conducted on the contributions or demographic characteristics of this population. For this study, we collectively categorized key players, posters, active users, and caretakers as superusers. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first study that compared demographic characteristics and posting behavior from two separate eHealth social networks. Despite vast differences in promotional efforts and management styles, both WATI attracted superusers with similar characteristics. As superusers drive network traffic, organizations promoting or supporting WATI should dedicate resources to encourage superuser participation. Further research regarding member dynamics and optimization of social networks for health care purposes is required.
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2012
Online doctor reviews: do they track surgeon volume, a proxy for quality of care?
Increasingly, consumers are accessing the Internet seeking health information. Consumers are also using online doctor review websites to help select their physician. Such websites tally numerical ratings and comments from past patients. To our knowledge, no study has previously analyzed whether doctors with positive online reputations on doctor review websites actually deliver higher quality of care typically associated with better clinical outcomes and better safety records. ⋯ Online review websites provide a rich source of data that may be able to track quality of care, although the effect size is weak and not consistent for all review website metrics.