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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Digital Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (7 February 2020) | Viewed by 29449

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Katrien De Cocker

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Guest Editor

Institute for Resilient Regions, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Interests: physical activity, sedentary behaviour, eHealth, intervention development and evaluation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A Special Issue on Digital Health Interventions in Everyday Settings is being organised in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. This journal is peer-reviewed and publishes scientific papers in the interdisciplinary area of environmental health sciences and public health. Detailed information about the journal is available on https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph.

Digitalisation (the integration of digital platforms such as computers, mobile phones or websites) is everywhere and it is changing our everyday lives in many ways. Our health promotion practice and research are also influenced by digital, electronic (eHealth) and mobile (mHealth) technologies (for example devices, apps, gamification, etc.). Many interventions nowadays include e- and mHealth approaches to improve physical and mental health or promote healthy behaviours. Some interventions are simply being deliverd via the Internet or smartphones, which are ubiquitously present in modern societies. Digital health interventions occur in various settings of daily life, for example health care, communities, neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools, and universities. This Special Issue will bring together the latest research on digital approaches used in health promotion research in daily settings.

Both empirical papers and systematic literature reviews will be considered. Manuscripts describing the development, (cost-)effectiveness or process evaluation, implementation, dissemination or translation of digital health interventions are welcomed. Papers on the outcomes of innovative digital health interventions are especially encouraged.

Dr. Katrien De Cocker
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

eHealth
mHealth
Health promotion
ICT
Health behaviour change
Technologies
Evaluation

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 223 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Digital Health Interventions in Everyday Settings

by Katrien De Cocker

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(8), 2702; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082702 - 15 Apr 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2082

Abstract

Digitalisation, the use of digital technologies and platforms such as computers, websites, smartphones, and wearable devices, is everywhere in many ways [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Health Interventions in Everyday Settings)

Research

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17 pages, 2563 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Engagement with a Web-Based Health Promotion Intervention among Vocational School Students: A Secondary User and Usage Analysis

by Gerrit Stassen, Christopher Grieben, Ingo Froböse and Andrea Schaller

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(7), 2180; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17072180 - 25 Mar 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4494

Abstract

Engagement with web-based interventions is both generally low and typically declining. Visits and revisits remain a challenge. Based on log data of a web-based cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in vocational schools, the present secondary analysis aimed to identify influencing factors on initially logging in to a health promotion platform among young adults and to examine the engagement over the course of an eight-week intervention. Data of 336 students (62.2% female, age span 18–25) from two intervention arms (web-based intervention and web-based intervention with an additional initial face-to-face contact) was included. Binary logistic regression and log-data visualization were performed. An additional initial face-to-face contact (odds ratio (OR) = 2.971, p = 0.005), female sex (OR = 2.237, p = 0.046) and the health-related skill “dealing with health information” (OR = 2.179, p = 0.030) significantly increased the likelihood of initially logging in. Other variables showed no influence. 16.6% of all potential users logged in at least once, of which 57.4% revisited the platform. Most logins were tracked at the beginning of the intervention and repeated engagement was low. To increase the engagement with web-based interventions, health-related skills should be fostered. In addition, a strategy could be to interlink comparable interventions in vocational schools more regularly with everyday teaching through multi-component interventions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Health Interventions in Everyday Settings)

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13 pages, 2356 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Predictive Model for Height Tracking in an Adult Male Population in Bangladesh to Reduce Input Errors

by Mehdi Hasan, Fumihiko Yokota, Rafiqul Islam, Kenji Hisazumi, Akira Fukuda and Ashir Ahmed

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(5), 1806; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051806 - 10 Mar 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5763

Abstract

The advancement of ICT and affordability of medical sensors enable healthcare data to be obtained remotely. Remote healthcare data is erroneous in nature. Detection of errors for remote healthcare data has not been significantly studied. This research aims to design and develop a software system to detect and reduce such healthcare data errors. Enormous research efforts produced error detection algorithms, however, the detection is done at the server side after a substantial amount of data is archived. Errors can be efficiently reduced if the suspicious data can be detected at the source. We took the approach to predict acceptable range of anthropometric data of each patient. We analyzed 40,391 records to monitor the growth patterns. We plotted the anthropometric items e.g., Height, Weight, BMI, Waist and Hip size for males and females. The plots show some patterns based on different age groups. This paper reports one parameter, height of males. We found three groups that can be classified with similar growth patterns: Age group 20–49, no significant change; Age group 50–64, slightly decremented pattern; and Age group 65–100, a drastic height loss. The acceptable range can change over time. The system estimates the updated trend from new health records. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Health Interventions in Everyday Settings)

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22 pages, 955 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Utilising Digital Health Technology to Support Patient-Healthcare Provider Communication in Fragility Fracture Recovery: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

by Lalit Yadav, Ayantika Haldar, Unyime Jasper, Anita Taylor, Renuka Visvanathan, Mellick Chehade and Tiffany Gill

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(20), 4047; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16204047 - 22 Oct 2019

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 6430

Abstract

The objective of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of digital health supported targeted patient communication versus usual provision of health information, on the recovery of fragility fractures. The review considered studies including older people, aged 50 and above, with a fragility fracture. The primary outcome was prevention of secondary fractures by diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis, and its adherence. This review considered both experimental and quasi-experimental study designs. A comprehensive search strategy was built to identify key terms including Medical subject headings (MeSH) and applied to the multiple electronic databases. An intention to treat analysis was applied to those studies included in the meta-analysis and odds ratio was calculated with random effects. Altogether, 15 studies were considered in the final stage for this systematic review. Out of these, 10 studies were Randomised controlled trials (RCT) and five were quasi experimental studies, published between the years 2003 and 2016 with a total of 5037 participants. Five Randomised control trails were included in the meta-analysis suggesting that digital health supported interventions were overall, twice as effective when compared with the usual standard care (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.30–3.48), despite the population sample not being homogeneous. Findings from the remaining studies were narratively interpreted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Health Interventions in Everyday Settings)

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16 pages, 866 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Traditional vs. iPad-Enhanced Aerobic Exercise on Wayfinding Efficacy and Cognition: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

by Daniel Palac, Tiffany Bullard, Jason D. Cohen, Lydia T. Nguyen, Raksha A. Mudar and Sean P. Mullen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(18), 3495; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183495 - 19 Sep 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4537

Abstract

The purpose of this pilot study was to test the feasibility and efficacy of an iPad-enhanced aerobic exercise intervention designed to enhance wayfinding efficacy and performance and relevant cognitive functioning among middle-aged adults at risk for cognitive impairment. Twenty-seven low active adults (21 females) aged 45 to 62 years (51.22 ± 5.20) participated in a ten-week randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized to an iPad-enhanced aerobic exercise group (experimental group) or an aerobic exercise-only group (control group) following baseline assessment. Both groups exercised at 50% to 75% of age-predicted heart rate maximum for 30 to 50 min/d, 2 d/wk for 10 weeks. During aerobic exercise, the experimental group engaged in virtual tours delivered via iPad. Baseline and post-intervention assessments of wayfinding self-efficacy, wayfinding task performance, cognitive functioning, electroencephalogram (EEG), and psychosocial questionnaires were administered. The results suggest that ten weeks of iPad-enhanced, moderately intense aerobic exercise had specific effects on wayfinding self-efficacy; however, no statistical differences were found between groups on the behavioral wayfinding task or spatial memory performance at follow-up. Performance scores on an inhibitory attentional-control cognitive assessment revealed significant differences between groups, favoring the experimental group (p < 0.05). Virtual reality-enhanced aerobic exercise may prove to be an effective method for improving cognitive function and increasing confidence to navigate real-world scenarios among individuals at risk of cognitive impairment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Health Interventions in Everyday Settings)

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Other

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6 pages, 249 KiB

Open AccessBrief Report

A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Acceptability of Using a Smart Pillbox to Enhance Medication Adherence Among Primary Care Patients

by Edmond Pui Hang Choi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(20), 3964; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16203964 - 17 Oct 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5216

Abstract

Smart pillboxes that remind patients to take medication may help avoid unintended non-adherence to medication regimens. To better understand the implementation potential of smart pillboxes among patients with chronic diseases, this study aimed to explore patients’ acceptability to use such devices and its associated factors. Five-hundred primary care patients aged 40 years or older were randomly recruited from a government-funded primary care clinic in Hong Kong. Patients were asked (i) if they needed to take medication daily, (ii) how many daily oral medications they needed to take on average, (iii) if they had ever missed a dose by accident, and (iv) if they were willing to use a smart pillbox for free to remind them to take medication. Out of the 344 participants included in the analysis who needed to take daily oral medication, 49.1% reported having previously missed a dose by accident, and 70.6% were willing to use a smart pillbox for free. A multiple logistic regression model found that male patients (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.59) and patients with hypertension (aOR: 0.56) were less likely to have previously missed a dose by accident. Patients who needed to take a greater number of daily medications (aOR: 1.16), who had previously missed a dose by accident (aOR: 2.44), with heart disease (aOR: 3.67) and with a high monthly income (aOR: 2.30) were more willing to use a smart pillbox, while older patients (aOR: 0.95) were less willing to do so. Primary care patients who reported missing a dose by accident were 2.4 times as likely to want to use a smart pillbox while those with heart disease were almost 4 times as likely to want to use a smart pillbox. Further studies such as those evaluating the willingness to pay for smart pillboxes and randomised control trials to evaluate the effectiveness of smart pillboxes in enhancing medication adherence should be conducted to provide more evidence about the implementation potential of such devices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Health Interventions in Everyday Settings)

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