Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2016
Comparative Study Clinical TrialUsability Comparisons of Head-Mounted vs. Stereoscopic Desktop Displays in a Virtual Reality Environment with Pain Patients.
Researchers have shown that immersive Virtual Reality (VR) can serve as an unusually powerful pain control technique. However, research assessing the reported symptoms and negative effects of VR systems indicate that it is important to ascertain if these symptoms arise from the use of particular VR display devices, particularly for users who are deemed "at risk," such as chronic pain patients Moreover, these patients have specific and often complex needs and requirements, and because basic issues such as 'comfort' may trigger anxiety or panic attacks, it is important to examine basic questions of the feasibility of using VR displays. Therefore, this repeated-measured experiment was conducted with two VR displays: the Oculus Rift's head-mounted display (HMD) and Firsthand Technologies' immersive desktop display, DeepStream3D. ⋯ However, results also indicated other preferences of the two VR displays among patients, including physical comfort levels and a sense of immersion. Few studies have been conducted that compare usability of specific VR devices specifically with chronic pain patients using a therapeutic virtual environment in pain clinics. Thus, the results may help clinicians and researchers to choose the most appropriate VR displays for chronic pain patients and guide VR designers to enhance the usability of VR displays for long-term pain management interventions.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2016
ReviewHow Do Information and Communication Technologies Influence Nursing Care?
Despite the well-known advantages of information and communication technologies (ICTs), their overall impact on nursing care has not been synthesized. The objective of this overview of systematic reviews is to summarize the best evidence regarding the effects of ICTs on nursing care. We considered quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method reviews published since January 1995. ⋯ Three reviewers extracted and compared their data. Preliminary results show that the following dimensions of nursing care are the most frequently reported: assessment, care planning and evaluation, documentation time, quality of care and patient safety. This overview provides a starting point from which to compare and contrast findings of separate reviews regarding the positive, neutral and negative effects of ICTs on nursing care.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2016
Developing Evidence-Based Care Standards and a Decision-Making Support System for Pain Management.
Pain is a crucial sign and symptom in hospitalised patients. This paper describes how a medical centre created a knowledge-based, computerised pain management decision-making process to support nurses in personalising preventive interventions based on patient requirements.