Journal of medical Internet research
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Apr 2020
Health Communication Through News Media During the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Digital Topic Modeling Approach.
In December 2019, a few coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases were first reported in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Soon after, increasing numbers of cases were detected in other parts of China, eventually leading to a disease outbreak in China. As this dreadful disease spreads rapidly, the mass media has been active in community education on COVID-19 by delivering health information about this novel coronavirus, such as its pathogenesis, spread, prevention, and containment. ⋯ Topic modeling of news articles can produce useful information about the significance of mass media for early health communication. Comparing the number of articles for each day and the outbreak development, we noted that mass media news reports in China lagged behind the development of COVID-19. The major themes accounted for around half the content and tended to focus on the larger society rather than on individuals. The COVID-19 crisis has become a worldwide issue, and society has become concerned about donations and support as well as mental health among others. We recommend that future work addresses the mass media's actual impact on readers during the COVID-19 crisis through sentiment analysis of news data.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Apr 2020
Global Reach of an Online COVID-19 Course in Multiple Languages on OpenWHO in the First Quarter of 2020: Analysis of Platform Use Data.
At the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Health Emergencies Learning and Capacity Development Unit, together with the WHO's health technical lead on coronaviruses, developed a massive open online course within 3 weeks as part of the global response to the emergency. The introductory coronavirus disease (COVID‑19) course was launched on January 26, 2020, on the health emergencies learning platform OpenWHO.org. ⋯ The online course has addressed a worldwide learning need by providing WHO's technical guidance packaged in simple formats for access and use. The learning material development was expedited to meet the onset of the epidemic. Initial data suggest that the various language versions of the course, in particular Spanish, have reached new user groups, fulfilling the platform's aim of providing learning everywhere to anyone that is interested. User surveys will be carried out to measure the real impact.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Apr 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialEvaluating an Intervention Program Using WeChat for Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Randomized Controlled Trial.
The application of telemedicine in home pulmonary rehabilitation interventions for the management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has achieved promising results. ⋯ The telemedicine technology was effective using the eCCM combined with a behavioral intervention strategy centering on self-efficacy. Pulmonary rehabilitation at home through PeR and FtF could improve the sense of self-efficacy and quality of life and alleviate symptoms in patients with COPD.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Apr 2020
Top Concerns of Tweeters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Infoveillance Study.
The recent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is taking a toll on the world's health care infrastructure as well as the social, economic, and psychological well-being of humanity. Individuals, organizations, and governments are using social media to communicate with each other on a number of issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not much is known about the topics being shared on social media platforms relating to COVID-19. Analyzing such information can help policy makers and health care organizations assess the needs of their stakeholders and address them appropriately. ⋯ Public health crisis response activities on the ground and online are becoming increasingly simultaneous and intertwined. Social media provides an opportunity to directly communicate health information to the public. Health systems should work on building national and international disease detection and surveillance systems through monitoring social media. There is also a need for a more proactive and agile public health presence on social media to combat the spread of fake news.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Apr 2020
Clinical Integration of a Smartphone App for Patients With Chronic Pain: Retrospective Analysis of Predictors of Benefits and Patient Engagement Between Clinic Visits.
Although many pain-related smartphone apps exist, little attention has been given to understanding how these apps are used over time and what factors contribute to greater compliance and patient engagement. ⋯ Patients with chronic pain who appeared to manage their pain better were less likely to report benefits of a smartphone pain app designed for chronic pain management. They demonstrated lower patient engagement in reporting their daily progress, in part, owing to the perceived burden of regularly using an app without a perceived benefit. An intrinsically different pain app designed and targeted for individuals based on early identification of user characteristics and adapted for each individual would likely improve compliance and app-related patient engagement.