Journal of medical Internet research
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2013
Accessing suicide-related information on the internet: a retrospective observational study of search behavior.
The Internet's potential impact on suicide is of major public health interest as easy online access to pro-suicide information or specific suicide methods may increase suicide risk among vulnerable Internet users. Little is known, however, about users' actual searching and browsing behaviors of online suicide-related information. ⋯ Searching or browsing suicide-related or pro-suicide webpages was uncommon, although a small group of users did access websites that contain detailed suicide method information.
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialA smartphone-based intervention with diaries and therapist feedback to reduce catastrophizing and increase functioning in women with chronic widespread pain. part 2: 11-month follow-up results of a randomized trial.
Internet-based interventions are increasingly used to support self-management of individuals with chronic illnesses. Web-based interventions may also be effective in enhancing self-management for individuals with chronic pain, but little is known about long-term effects. Research on Web-based interventions to support self-management following participation in pain management programs is limited. ⋯ The long-term results of this randomized trial are ambiguous. No significant between-group effect was found on the study variables at 11-month follow-up. However, the within-group analyses, comparing the baseline for the smartphone intervention to the 11-month data, indicated changes in the desired direction in catastrophizing and acceptance in the intervention group but not within the control group. This study provides modest evidence supporting the long-term effect of the intervention.
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2013
Comparative StudyRetrieving clinical evidence: a comparison of PubMed and Google Scholar for quick clinical searches.
Physicians frequently search PubMed for information to guide patient care. More recently, Google Scholar has gained popularity as another freely accessible bibliographic database. ⋯ For quick clinical searches, Google Scholar returns twice as many relevant articles as PubMed and provides greater access to free full-text articles.
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2013
Pediatric caregiver attitudes toward email communication: survey in an urban primary care setting.
Overall usage of email communication between patients and physicians continues to increase, due in part to expanding the adoption of electronic health records and patient portals. Unequal access and acceptance of these technologies has the potential to exacerbate disparities in care. Little is known about the attitudes of pediatric caregivers with regard to their acceptance of email as a means to communicate with their health care providers. ⋯ Caregivers of children have access to email and many would be interested in communicating with health care providers. However, African-Americans and those in lower socioeconomic groups were much less likely to have positive attitudes toward email.
-
J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2013
Using twitter to examine smoking behavior and perceptions of emerging tobacco products.
Social media platforms such as Twitter are rapidly becoming key resources for public health surveillance applications, yet little is known about Twitter users' levels of informedness and sentiment toward tobacco, especially with regard to the emerging tobacco control challenges posed by hookah and electronic cigarettes. ⋯ Novel insights available through Twitter for tobacco surveillance are attested through the high prevalence of positive sentiment. This positive sentiment is correlated in complex ways with social image, personal experience, and recently popular products such as hookah and electronic cigarettes. Several apparent perceptual disconnects between these products and their health effects suggest opportunities for tobacco control education. Finally, machine classification of tobacco-related posts shows a promising edge over strictly keyword-based approaches, yielding an improved signal-to-noise ratio in Twitter data and paving the way for automated tobacco surveillance applications.