scholarly journals What Drives Young Vietnamese to Use Mobile Health Innovations? Implications for Health Communication and Behavioral Interventions (Preprint)

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bach Xuan Tran ◽  
Melvyn WB Zhang ◽  
Huong Thi Le ◽  
Hinh Duc Nguyen ◽  
Long Hoang Nguyen ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Mobile phone use in Vietnam has become increasingly popular in recent years, with youth (people aged 15-24 years) being one of the groups with the heaviest use. Health-related apps on mobile phones (mobile health [mHealth] apps) appear to be a feasible approach for disease and health management, especially for self-management. However, there has been a scarcity of research on mobile phone usage for health care among youth and adolescents. OBJECTIVE This study aims to identify the patterns of usage of mobile phone apps and the preferences for functionalities of mobile phone-based health-related apps among Vietnamese youth. METHODS An online cross-sectional study was conducted in Vietnam in August to October 2015. Web-based respondent-driven sampling technique was adopted to recruit participants. The online questionnaire was developed and distributed using Google Forms. Chi square and Mann-Whitney tests were used to investigate the difference in attitude and preference for mobile phone apps between the two genders. RESULTS Among 356 youths (age from 15 to 25 years) sampled, low prevalence was found of using mHealth apps such as beauty counseling (6.5%, 23/356), nutrition counseling (7.9%, 28/356), disease prevention (9.8%, 35/356), and disease treatment (7.6%, 27/356). The majority of users found the app(s) they used to be useful (72.7%, 48/356) and reported satisfaction with these apps (61.9%, 39/356). No significant differences were found between the genders in their perception of the usefulness of apps and their satisfaction with mobile health apps. Most of the participants (68.2%, 238/356) preferred apps which are conceptualized and designed to run on a mobile phone compared to Web-based apps, and 50% (176/356) preferred visual materials. Approximately 53.9% (188/356) reported that it was integral for the mobile phone apps to have a sharing/social network functionality. Participants with a higher perceived stress score and EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) index were significantly less likely to use mHealth apps. CONCLUSIONS This study found a low proportion using mHealth-related mobile phone apps, but a high level of receptiveness and satisfaction among Vietnamese youth. Acceptance level and preferences toward mHealth apps as well as specifically preferred functionalities discovered in this study are essential not only in conceptualizing and developing appropriate mobile phone interventions targeting youth and adolescents, but also in the application of technically advanced solutions in disease prevention and health management.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Yang ◽  
Jiadong Wu ◽  
Xiaoxiao Mo ◽  
Yaqin Chen ◽  
Shanshan Huang ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Mobile health applications are emerging as a novel platform to obtain data pertinent to wellness and disease diagnosis, prevention, and management. As the future general trend of medical informatization, mobile health is an indispensable way to promote universal medical care to reduce disease burden. The features of these mHealth apps in China is unclear, so we collected a wide range of application information to evaluate these apps effectively. OBJECTIVE We aim to provide a landscape of mHealth apps on the existing market in China. We expect that based on the actual state, this study can give future development directions of mHealth apps. METHODS We searched mHealth apps from five android app stores (Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Tencent, and 360), Apple App Store (IOS), and Baidu search engine up to October 25, 2019. We also searched the inventory of the top 100 Chinese hospitals in 2018 and four online shopping sites (Tmall, JD, Pinduoduo, and Suning) to identify apps of Internet hospitals and intelligent devices, respectively. RESULTS We identified 2425 mHealth apps (93.3% android, 69.2% iPhone) in the primary analysis, whose intentional users were ordinary consumers (Android 1808/2262, 79.9%; IOS 1350/1677, 80.5%). 56.1% (1168/2081) of app developers were Internet companies. More than 90% of apps were available free of cost (Android 2111/2262, 93.3%; IOS 1615/1677, 96.3%), but in-app purchases accounted for more than 60% (Android 1397/2262, 61.8%; IOS 1189/1677, 70.9%). Of the 1285 public available apps, 1248 were for health management, of which 26.3% (328/1248) were related to bodybuilding, and 13.7% (171/1248) were related to women's health. The other 697 apps were used for medical support, and 289 of them were related to inquiries. The permissions required by the apps include claiming the network (2081/2107), reading the status and identity of the phone (1881/2107) , and location (1799/2107). CONCLUSIONS With the increasing condition of the paid and membership system, rising profit of mHealth app drives various industries to move forward. This study guides research designs of future apps in mHealth field. The prospect of mHealth app is bright, but there exists a critical condition in claiming excessive permissions, security, and legal management, which need to be further strengthened.


Author(s):  
Ajeet Kumar Khilnani ◽  
Rekha Thaddanee ◽  
Gurudas Khilnani

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> <span lang="EN-IN">Use of smart phone, which has become an integral activity of daily life now, has begun to show subtle untoward effects on health. Various health related problems associated with electronic devices, especially smart phones, use are being studied. Phantom ringing syndrome (PRS) is one such adverse effect, which is an auditory hallucination seen in mobile phone users when they feel that their phone is ringing when it is actually not. To the best of our knowledge and literature search, we could not find any Indian study on PRS. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of PRS and to find the factors associated with it.</span></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> <span lang="EN-IN">This was a prospective, cross-sectional online questionnaire based study, conducted in western Gujarat from July 2017 to October 2017. A 7-item validated questionnaire was sent to 800 participants, through e-mail or WhatsApp, and the responses received were analyzed using MS excel.  </span></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> <span lang="EN-IN">Out of 319 respondents, 181 (67%) were males and 89 (33%) females. The mean age of males was 31.65 (9.65) years and females was 29.96 (11.19) years. PRS was present in 54.4% of respondents. There was no significant association between presence of PRS and age of participants (p=0.855), sex of participants (p=0.5232), profession (medical vs. non-medical) (p=0.498), physical location of mobile phone (p=0.829), mode of using mobile phone (p=0.718) and duration of mobile phone use (p=0.748). </span></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> <span lang="EN-IN">The prevalence rate of PRS in our study was 54.4%. PRS occurs irrespective of gender, age, profession, and physical location, duration and mode of phone use. It would be interesting to find exact site of involvement, in auditory circuit, by BERA studies.</span></p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 263183182110274
Author(s):  
Deblina Roy ◽  
Sujita Kumar Kar ◽  
SM Yasir Arafat ◽  
Pawan Sharma ◽  
Russell Kabir

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have affected the sexuality and emotional bonding among the couple across the world. Objectives: We aimed to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on the married people’s emotional bonding and sexual relationships in 3 south Asian counties (Bangladesh, India, and Nepal). Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among Bangladesh, India, and Nepal residents from April 3 to April 15, 2020. The survey was designed in English. The participants were selected through convenience sampling technique, the link of the online questionnaire was shared with the participants. Only participants older than 18 years and above, married, and living with their spouses were included in the study. Results: A total number of 120 respondents were included finally for analysis from the participating countries (India, Nepal, and Bangladesh). The mean age of the participants was 35.42 (±5.73) years; the majority were males under the age of 40 years and had completed postgraduation as their qualification. Among the study participants, more than half (53.8%) of the women reported being sexually active during the lockdown, whereas 41% of the men reported being sexually active. Among the sexually active participants, most women (57.7%) reported that they perceived positive emotional bonding with their partners. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference observed when compared with men. There are variations in responses. However, no significant association was identified. Conclusion: There are a few insights from the study, that is, there was no significant difference found in almost 3 countries in emotional intimacy. There had been a trend that there is improved emotional bonding with their partners, although no significant difference was observed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110152
Author(s):  
Margaret Isioma Ojeahere ◽  
Sahmicit Kankemwa Kumswa ◽  
Frances Adiukwu ◽  
Janet Punyit Plang ◽  
Yetunde Folake Taiwo

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been identified as a global health problem with increasing mental health consequences. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Nigeria, couples were compelled to spend more time together, regardless of their pre-existing challenges. Our study aims to determine the prevalence of IPV, its forms, and mental health implications among Nigerian households amid the COVID-19 lockdown. A cross-sectional study was implemented which used the snowball sampling technique to recruit 474 participants across 31 states in Nigeria. A semi-structured online questionnaire was distributed using the WhatsApp platform. The relationship between IPV, its forms, and associated factors were analyzed using descriptive analysis and logistic regression with significant value at p ≤ .05 and confidence interval of 95%. Majority (98.1%) of the participants had at least a college degree and 90.1% were employed. Overall prevalence of IPV ranged from 7.2% to 13.5%. Using the lockdown as the landmark, higher prevalence was found before than during the lockdown across physical, emotional, financial, and sexual forms of IPV. Emotional form had the highest prevalence both before and during the lockdown with 11.4% and 3.8% respectively. Furthermore, 22.6% of participants reported that the lockdown affected their mental health. Hopelessness, feelings of failure, being irritable, and constantly under strain were psychological symptoms significantly associated with IPV amid the lockdown. Decreased prevalence of IPV were found in the early phase of the pandemic, suggesting that couples can experience less partner violence during periods of confinement. Our study supports existing evidence that forms of IPV have negative mental health consequences on abused partners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-105
Author(s):  
Santy Irene Putri

Background: The role of health students in providing information about reproductive health is very important, especially regarding reproductive health rights for women with disabilities. This is crucial to do because women with disabilities are very vulnerable to violence and discrimination, especially in terms of reproductive health. Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the influence of knowledge and intention toward behavior of female health students in accessing information on reproductive health rights for women with disabilities. Research Methods: This was a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design. This study was conducted at the Midwifery Study Program at Tribhuwana Tunggadewi University Malang in October 2020. The sample size was 50 subjects, selected by simple random sampling technique. The dependent variable is the behavior of health female students in accessing information. The independent variables were knowledge and intention in access to information. Data collection using an online questionnaire. The data analysis technique used multiple linear regression. Results: The behavior of health female students in access to information was influenced by knowledge (b= 0.36, CI 95% = 0.12 to 0.60, p= 0.005), and intention in access to information (b= 0.45, CI 95% = 0.10 to 0.80, p= 0.014). Conclusion: Participants with good knowledge and high intention in access to information affect behavior in accessing information.   Keywords:  health students; reproductive health rights; women with disabilities


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nihaya A. Al-sheyab ◽  
Tamer Gharaibeh ◽  
Khalid Kheirallah

Background. The prevalence of disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) have increased worldwide. It is estimated that about 31.6% of Jordanian adolescents developed DEB. Engaging in peer groups is a prominent event in which adolescents try to belong to peers as part of exploring their social identity. Purpose. To assess the relationship between risk of eating disorders and peer pressure among adolescents. Methods. A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design utilized multistage cluster sampling technique was used to recruit students from 8th to 10th grades from both sexes from schools in northern Jordan. Data were collected from a self-administered, online questionnaire which was given to 738 participants. Results. The difference in overall mean of the Inventory of Peer Influence on Eating Concerns (I-PIEC) between adolescents with disordered eating behaviors and normal eating behaviors states was statistically significant. Scores for interaction peer pressure means were statistically higher for girls than for boys; conversely, likeability mean scores were statistically higher for boys than girls. Conclusions. The current findings suggest that healthcare professionals are encouraged to conduct appropriate school-based primary prevention for disordered eating behaviors.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman Al-Dahshan ◽  
Mohamad Chehab ◽  
Nagah Selim

Abstract Background: Although the internet can be a source of reassurance and clarification for expectant women, it ‎could cause concerns or feelings of worry when reading about pregnancy-related ‎information. The current research sought to assess the feelings of worry and perceived reliability towards online pregnancy-related information and the associated factors among expectant women attending antenatal clinics at primary healthcare centers in Qatar.Methods: A cross-sectional study design was employed. The participants were recruited through a systematic random sampling technique. ‎A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. Descriptive and analytic statistics were used when appropriate‎.Results: A total of 327 expecting women completed the questionnaire. Most participants were aged between 26-34 years (74.1%), held a college/university degree (76.4%), and multigravidas (73.1%). About one-third of the women ‎(31.2‎%) reported feeling worried due to something they read online. The participants coped with these feelings by consulting their antenatal care provider at the next appointment (51.0%) or by talking with relatives and friends (47.0%). Furthermore, most women (79.2%) considered online pregnancy-related information to be reliable or highly reliable. Holding a college/university degree, primigravidae, and having no children were factors significantly associated with a high perception of reliability of online health information.Conclusion: Although online pregnancy information caused feelings of worry for some pregnant ‎women, most women perceived such information to be reliable. Thus, antenatal care providers should be equipped to guide pregnant women on how to access high-quality web-based information.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 67-71
Author(s):  
Kiran Chhetri ◽  
Puspa Kumari Deo

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 is an upcoming contagious respiratory infection caused by a new coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV2) which is transmitted through the respiratory droplets produced by coughing or sneezing of an infected person. The behavior of the general public will probably have an important bearing on the course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. Human behavior is influenced by knowledge and perceptions. This paper aims to identify the awareness and perception regarding COVID-19 among general public. Method: A cross sectional descriptive design was used by using structured online questionnaire through Google form. The study was conducted at certain area of Kathmandu. Sample size was 423 with non probability convenience sampling technique. Result: The findings revealed that overall, 44.9% respondents had low, 34.0% had average and 21% had high level of awareness. Likewise, 56.6% had positive perception and 43.2% had negative perception about COVID outbreak. Also 62% respondents had positive and 37.7% had negative perception about prevention of COVID. There is an association between educational status and level of awareness with ‘p’ value lesser than 0.05 at 95% level of confidence. Conclusion: Majority of respondents were not aware about the outbreak of COVID19. Also more than half of respondents had positive perception about outbreak of COVID 19. The effective measures are being taken by the government and the public, still there remains a need for further awareness campaigns and knowledge of safe interventions to combat the spread of disease. Key words: awareness, perception, COVID19, general public.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 2175-2177
Author(s):  
Khadija Ghafoor Quraishi ◽  
Mian Ali Raza ◽  
Sadaf Waris ◽  
Fahad Tanveer ◽  
Ashfaq Ahmad

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has become a foremost health concern, many countries have ordered lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19 due to which many Universities are closed and students are taking lectures online, Pakistan is also one of the countries in which lockdown was imposed, the aim of this study is to examine the level of physical activity and lifestyle of medical students from University of Lahore (UoL) during COVID-19. Aim: To determine the effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the physical activity and lifestyle of medical students of University of Lahore. Materials: Sample size included 151 medical students from the University of Lahore, study was pure cross-sectional and convenient sampling technique was used, data was collected through online questionnaire which contained question from IPAQ-SF to estimate the physical activity and lifestyle of observed University students. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: The results showed that from the population of 151 medical students of University of Lahore 75 students (49.7%) reported Low level of physical activity, while 44 students (29.1%) students reported Moderate level of physical activity, and 32 students (21.2%) reported high level of physical activity. Conclusion: Majority of the medical students showed Low level of physical activity, 49.7% in the last 7 days during COVID-19 pandemic. Medical students of University of Lahore showed a decrease in their overall physical activity level. Keywords: COVID-19, lockdown, Medical students, Physical activity


Author(s):  
Huong Thi Le ◽  
Diep Ngoc Nguyen ◽  
Ahmed Sam Beydoun ◽  
Xuan Thi Thanh Le ◽  
Thao Thanh Nguyen ◽  
...  

Due to the rapid spread of coronavirus, Vietnam introduced its first national partial lockdown on April 1st, 2020. The public relied on online sources, whether through official websites or phone-based applications, to acquire up-to-date health information, provide accurate instructions, and limit misinformation. This study aims to provide insight regarding the current level of awareness of the pandemic, and to identify associated factors in Vietnamese participants to recommend necessary interventions. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a web-based survey during the first week of the lockdown period. There were 341 observations collected using a snowball sampling technique. A Tobit multivariable regression model was used to identify factors associated with the demand for each category of health information. The most requested information was the latest updated news on the epidemic, followed by information about disease symptoms and updated news on the outbreak. The prevalence of diverse socioeconomic, demographic, and ethnic factors in Vietnam requires consideration of the specific health information needs of unique groups. Identifying group-specific demands would be helpful to provide proper information to fulfill each population group’s needs.


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