Journal of medical Internet research
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Mar 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyCost analysis of in-home telerehabilitation for post-knee arthroplasty.
Rehabilitation provided through home visits is part of the continuum of care after discharge from hospital following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). As demands for rehabilitation at home are growing and becoming more difficult to meet, in-home telerehabilitation has been proposed as an alternate service delivery method. However, there is a need for robust data concerning both the effectiveness and the cost of dispensing in-home telerehabilitation. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first study of the actual costs of in-home telerehabilitation covering all subcosts of telerehabilitation and distance between the health care center and the patient's home. The cost for a single session of in-home telerehabilitation compared to conventional home-visit rehabilitation was lower or about the same, depending on the distance between the patient's home and health care center. Under the controlled conditions of an RCT, a favorable cost differential was observed when the patient was more than 30 km from the provider. Stakeholders and program planners can use these data to guide decisions regarding introducing telerehabilitation as a new service in their clinic.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Mar 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialWeb-based psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in war-traumatized Arab patients: randomized controlled trial.
In recent years, armed conflicts in the Middle East have resulted in high rates of exposure to traumatic events. Despite the increasing demand of mental health care provision, ongoing violence limits conventional approaches of mental health care provision. Internet-based interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have proved feasible and effective in Western countries, but their applicability and efficacy in war and conflict regions remains unknown. ⋯ The results indicate, even in unstable and insecure settings with ongoing exposure to human rights violations through war and dictatorships, people with posttraumatic stress symptoms benefit from a cognitive behavioral treatment provided entirely through the Internet. This method of delivery could improve patients' access to humanitarian aid in the form of e-mental health services.
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J. Med. Internet Res. · Mar 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialA Web-based, computer-tailored smoking prevention program to prevent children from starting to smoke after transferring to secondary school: randomized controlled trial.
Smoking prevalence rates among Dutch children increase rapidly after they transit to secondary school, in particular among children with a low socioeconomic status (SES). Web-based, computer-tailored programs supplemented with prompt messages may be able to empower children to prevent them from starting to smoke when they transit to secondary school. ⋯ This study showed that the Web-based, computer-tailored feedback messages with and without prompt messages were not effective in modifying children's smoking intentions and smoking behavior as compared to no information. Future smoking prevention interventions are recommended to start closer to the age of actual smoking uptake. Furthermore, future studies on Web-based, computer-tailored smoking prevention programs should focus on assessing and controlling exposure to the educational content and the response to the prompt messages.