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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2016) | Viewed by 51445

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Peter Bath

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Information School, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 211 Portobello, Sheffield S1 4DP, UK

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are organizing a Special Issue on the use of health informatics within public health in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The venue is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes articles and communications in the interdisciplinary area of environmental health sciences and public health. For detailed information on the journal, we refer you to https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph.

The digital revolution is transforming the use of data and information in the planning and delivery of health care and health services and for improving public health. Rapid developments in the field of health informatics, coupled with the increasing demands on health services and the need for more effective and efficient health care, means that this is an exciting time to consider how health informatics can support public health.

Web-based systems, incorporating remote monitoring and assisted living technologies into telehealth and telecare systems, that support independent living in the community have the potential to reduce health care costs and enable patients with chronic illnesses to remain in their own homes for longer. Healthy people are also using mobile technologies to monitor their physical activity and physiological health to improve their physical health and personal well being.

The Web created new possibilities for health promotion, and for the provision of health information and advice to patients, carers and the general public. Web 2.0 technologies and enabled patients and carers to share information about themselves and their conditions through web-based discussion forums and personal blogs. Social media mean that health organisations can rapidly spread information relating to disease outbreaks and co-ordinate relief in disaster areas. People can share information about health issues with friends, family members and other people affected by an outbreak or disaster. Analysing data generated through social media is providing new opportunities for disease surveillance and monitoring the spread of disease.

The development of electronic record systems that can be integrated with existing information systems, and can be linked to disease registers and research databases, is opening up new opportunities to follow-up patients with specific diseases over longer periods of time, and undertaking longitudinal research in public health and epidemiology not previously possible.

Data mining and text mining software can be used to discover new knowledge about the health of patient groups and populations by mining electronic record systems, databases and data warehouses.

While these developments are creating new opportunities for health promotion, disease prevention and management, and public health more generally; we need a better understanding of the challenges in developing and implementing systems to support health care. We also need to consider the ethical issues associated with the development and use of these technologies. We therefore invite researchers who are working in health informatics and public health to submit their research on these issues for publication in this Special Issue.

This Special Issue is open to any subject area related to the use of health informatics applications within public health. The listed keywords suggest just a few of the many possibilities.

Prof. Dr. Peter Bath
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

Health Informatics
Public Health
Health promotion; disease prevention
Telehealth; telecare; telemedicine
Social media;
Disease surveillance
Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Electronic records;
Health record linkage;
Data mining;
Text mining;
Big data; data warehousing;
Health promotion;
Disease prevention;
Assisted living;
Remote monitoring
Personal health monitoring
M-health
e-health
Ethics

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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306 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transparency of Mandatory Information Disclosure and Concerns of Health Services Providers and Consumers

by Yu-Hua Yan, Chih-Ming Kung, Shih-Chieh Fang and Yi Chen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(1), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010053 - 9 Jan 2017

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5014

Abstract

Background: This study analyzed differences between transparency of information disclosure and related demands from the health service consumer’s perspective. It also compared how health service providers and consumers are associated by different levels of mandatory information disclosure. Methods: We obtained our research data using a questionnaire survey (health services providers, n = 201; health service consumers, n = 384). Results: Health service consumers do not have major concerns regarding mandatory information disclosure. However, they are concerned about complaint channels and settlement results, results of patient satisfaction surveys, and disclosure of hospital financial statements (p < 0.001). We identified significant differences in health service providers’ and consumers’ awareness regarding the transparency of information disclosure (p < 0.001). Conclusions: It may not be possible for outsiders to properly interpret the information provided by hospitals. Thus, when a hospital discloses information, it is necessary for the government to consider the information’s applicability. Toward improving medical expertise and information asymmetry, the government has to reduce the burden among health service consumers in dealing with this information, and it has to use the information effectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Informatics and Public Health)

289 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Lifestyle Change—Participatory Design of Support Together with Persons with Obesity in the Third Age

by Sarianne Wiklund Axelsson, Åsa Wikberg-Nilsson and Anita Melander Wikman

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(12), 1248; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13121248 - 16 Dec 2016

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4862

Abstract

Sustainable lifestyle changes due to obesity are difficult to achieve regardless methods used. We need to know more about the lived experience of obesity and older persons’ needs for support to make a sustainable change. This paper focuses on the need-finding process in designing support for a sustainable lifestyle change. Multistage focus group interviews were conducted with persons aged 61–72 living in Northern Sweden. A participatory and appreciative reflection and action (PAAR) approach was used in the group-sessions. Probes were used to increase reflections and achieve a deeper knowledge about the participants’ needs of support. Data were analysed using qualitative thematic content analysis. Our findings revealed that to be able to succeed with a lifestyle change a focus has to be on a converted way of thinking, managing vulnerability, and achieving an emotional balance. To achieve a sustainable lifestyle change due to obesity in the third age the focus has to be on a health identity instead of a weight identity. Personalised support with enjoyable physical activities should be designed and developed. Strategies for emotional balance based on autonomy and self-empowerment must be included. This knowledge is important when designing support for sustainable change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Informatics and Public Health)

5064 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exercise Performance Measurement with Smartphone Embedded Sensor for Well-Being Management

by Chung-Tse Liu and Chia-Tai Chan

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(10), 1001; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13101001 - 11 Oct 2016

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4864

Abstract

Regular physical activity reduces the risk of many diseases and improves physical and mental health. However, physical inactivity is widespread globally. Improving physical activity levels is a global concern in well-being management. Exercise performance measurement systems have the potential to improve physical activity by providing feedback and motivation to users. We propose an exercise performance measurement system for well-being management that is based on the accumulated activity effective index (AAEI) and incorporates a smartphone-embedded sensor. The proposed system generates a numeric index that is based on users’ exercise performance: their level of physical activity and number of days spent exercising. The AAEI presents a clear number that can serve as a useful feedback and goal-setting tool. We implemented the exercise performance measurement system by using a smartphone and conducted experiments to assess the feasibility of the system and investigated the user experience. We recruited 17 participants for validating the feasibility of the measurement system and a total of 35 participants for investigating the user experience. The exercise performance measurement system showed an overall precision of 88% in activity level estimation. Users provided positive feedback about their experience with the exercise performance measurement system. The proposed system is feasible and has a positive effective on well-being management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Informatics and Public Health)

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2994 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Utilizing Chinese Admission Records for MACE Prediction of Acute Coronary Syndrome

by Danqing Hu, Zhengxing Huang, Tak-Ming Chan, Wei Dong, Xudong Lu and Huilong Duan

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(9), 912; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13090912 - 13 Sep 2016

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 7398

Abstract

Background: Clinical major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) prediction of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is important for a number of applications including physician decision support, quality of care assessment, and efficient healthcare service delivery on ACS patients. Admission records, as typical media to contain clinical information of patients at the early stage of their hospitalizations, provide significant potential to be explored for MACE prediction in a proactive manner. Methods: We propose a hybrid approach for MACE prediction by utilizing a large volume of admission records. Firstly, both a rule-based medical language processing method and a machine learning method (i.e., Conditional Random Fields (CRFs)) are developed to extract essential patient features from unstructured admission records. After that, state-of-the-art supervised machine learning algorithms are applied to construct MACE prediction models from data. Results: We comparatively evaluate the performance of the proposed approach on a real clinical dataset consisting of 2930 ACS patient samples collected from a Chinese hospital. Our best model achieved 72% AUC in MACE prediction. In comparison of the performance between our models and two well-known ACS risk score tools, i.e., GRACE and TIMI, our learned models obtain better performances with a significant margin. Conclusions: Experimental results reveal that our approach can obtain competitive performance in MACE prediction. The comparison of classifiers indicates the proposed approach has a competitive generality with datasets extracted by different feature extraction methods. Furthermore, our MACE prediction model obtained a significant improvement by comparison with both GRACE and TIMI. It indicates that using admission records can effectively provide MACE prediction service for ACS patients at the early stage of their hospitalizations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Informatics and Public Health)

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311 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating Mobile Survey Tools (MSTs) for Field-Level Monitoring and Data Collection: Development of a Novel Evaluation Framework, and Application to MSTs for Rural Water and Sanitation Monitoring

by Michael B. Fisher, Benjamin H. Mann, Ryan D. Cronk, Katherine F. Shields, Tori L. Klug and Rohit Ramaswamy

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(9), 840; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13090840 - 23 Aug 2016

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 7438

Abstract

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) such as mobile survey tools (MSTs) can facilitate field-level data collection to drive improvements in national and international development programs. MSTs allow users to gather and transmit field data in real time, standardize data storage and management, automate routine analyses, and visualize data. Dozens of diverse MST options are available, and users may struggle to select suitable options. We developed a systematic MST Evaluation Framework (EF), based on International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) software quality modeling standards, to objectively assess MSTs and assist program implementers in identifying suitable MST options. The EF is applicable to MSTs for a broad variety of applications. We also conducted an MST user survey to elucidate needs and priorities of current MST users. Finally, the EF was used to assess seven MSTs currently used for water and sanitation monitoring, as a validation exercise. The results suggest that the EF is a promising method for evaluating MSTs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Informatics and Public Health)

277 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Accessibility, Usability, and Reliability of Chinese Web-Based Information on HIV/AIDS

by Lu Niu, Dan Luo, Ying Liu and Shuiyuan Xiao

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(8), 834; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13080834 - 20 Aug 2016

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6124

Abstract

Objective: The present study was designed to assess the quality of Chinese-language Internet-based information on HIV/AIDS. Methods: We entered the following search terms, in Chinese, into Baidu and Sogou: “HIV/AIDS”, “symptoms”, and “treatment”, and evaluated the first 50 hits of each query using the Minervation validation instrument (LIDA tool) and DISCERN instrument. Results: Of the 900 hits identified, 85 websites were included in this study. The overall score of the LIDA tool was 63.7%; the mean score of accessibility, usability, and reliability was 82.2%, 71.5%, and 27.3%, respectively. Of the top 15 sites according to the LIDA score, the mean DISCERN score was calculated at 43.1 (95% confidence intervals (CI) = 37.7–49.5). Noncommercial websites showed higher DISCERN scores than commercial websites; whereas commercial websites were more likely to be found in the first 20 links obtained from each search engine than the noncommercial websites. Conclusions: In general, the HIV/AIDS related Chinese-language websites have poor reliability, although their accessibility and usability are fair. In addition, the treatment information presented on Chinese-language websites is far from sufficient. There is an imperative need for professionals and specialized institutes to improve the comprehensiveness of web-based information related to HIV/AIDS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Informatics and Public Health)

299 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prevailing Opinions on Connected Health in Austria: Results from an Online Survey

by Daniela Haluza, Marlene Naszay, Andreas Stockinger and David Jungwirth

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(8), 813; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13080813 - 11 Aug 2016

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 6286

Abstract

New technological developments affect almost every sector of our daily lives, including the healthcare sector. We evaluated how connected health applications, subsumed as eHealth and telemedicine, are perceived in relation to socio-demographic characteristics. The current cross-sectional, online survey collected self-reported data from a non-probability convenience sample of 562 Austrian adults (58.9% females). The concept of eHealth and telemedicine was poorly established among the study population. While most participants already used mobile devices, they expressed a quite low desirability of using various telemedicine applications in the future. Study participants perceived that the most important overall benefits for implementing connected health technology were better quality of healthcare, location-independent access to healthcare services, and better quality of life. The respective three top-ranked overall barriers were data security, lack of acceptance by doctors, and lack of technical prerequisites. With regard to aging societies, healthcare providers, and users alike could take advantage of inexpensive, consumer-oriented connected health solutions that address individual needs of specific target groups. The present survey identified issues relevant for successful implementation of ICT-based healthcare solutions, providing a compilation of several areas requiring further in-depth research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Informatics and Public Health)

Review

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1121 KiB

Open AccessReview

Pain Assessment–Can it be Done with a Computerised System? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

by Nuno Pombo, Nuno Garcia, Kouamana Bousson, Susanna Spinsante and Ivan Chorbev

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13(4), 415; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13040415 - 13 Apr 2016

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 8647

Abstract

Background: Mobile and web technologies are becoming increasingly used to support the treatment of chronic pain conditions. However, the subjectivity of pain perception makes its management and evaluation very difficult. Pain treatment requires a multi-dimensional approach (e.g., sensory, affective, cognitive) whence the evidence of technology effects across dimensions is lacking. This study aims to describe computerised monitoring systems and to suggest a methodology, based on statistical analysis, to evaluate their effects on pain assessment. Methods: We conducted a review of the English-language literature about computerised systems related to chronic pain complaints that included data collected via mobile devices or Internet, published since 2000 in three relevant bibliographical databases such as BioMed Central, PubMed Central and ScienceDirect. The extracted data include: objective and duration of the study, age and condition of the participants, and type of collected information (e.g., questionnaires, scales). Results: Sixty-two studies were included, encompassing 13,338 participants. A total of 50 (81%) studies related to mobile systems, and 12 (19%) related to web-based systems. Technology and pen-and-paper approaches presented equivalent outcomes related with pain intensity. Conclusions: The adoption of technology was revealed as accurate and feasible as pen-and-paper methods. The proposed assessment model based on data fusion combined with a qualitative assessment method was revealed to be suitable. Data integration raises several concerns and challenges to the design, development and application of monitoring systems applied to pain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Informatics and Public Health)

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