bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic Games to Improve Attachment Capabilities and Protect Sexual Health
Authors: Beier Klaus M.  , Rebensburg Klaus  , Behrmann Malte
Published: February 2025

From the very beginning of life, man's fundamental needs for acceptance, security, trust, warmth and closeness can only be satisfied in relationships [1]. During infancy this is accomplished by body contact and the emotional experience of being taken care of, for instance by the sheltering manner in which an infant is held during breast-feeding. Through this parental loving care the modus of satisfying psychosocial fundamental needs by skin contact is learned by the infant and reinforced on a neuronal level, the way all processes of learning elementary skills generally are. According to present knowledge, chronic lack of security transmitted by frustration of psychosocial fundamental needs increases the probability of developing psychological and physical disorders. Furthermore it hinders overcoming prevailing diseases [2]. In developing therapeutic computer games this phylogenetically established programming for attachment in order to fulfill fundamental psychosocial needs will be the focus of interaction, cognitive triggers and strategic as well as emotional rules to be applied in the games which are designed in a modular way for difficult developmental phases (e.g. adolescence) or various chronic diseases. This is a new approach transferring sexological clinical experience into therapeutic computer games for prevention purposes and protection of sexual health.
Hands, Tables and Groups Make Rehabilitation Awesome!
Authors: Annett Michelle  , Anderson Fraser  , Bischof Walter F.
Published: February 2025

Technology has helped improve rehabilitation programs by providing patients with engaging alternatives to otherwise monotonous and repetitive exercises. In recent years, therapists have looked towards multi-touch technologies to further enhance patient rehabilitation programs. So far, the focus has mainly been on single-user interaction, largely ignoring many of the benefits patients receive from socially interacting with therapists, caregivers and their peers. To make use of these valuable interactions, we have developed a suite of multi-touch activities for motor and cognitive rehabilitation. These applications can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of individual patients and enable therapists to quantitatively measure patient behavior and performance. We also reflect on design-related discussions we had with practicing occupational therapists and provide a set of design considerations to guide future rehabilitation activities.
PDA Self-Register System for Eating Disorders: A Study on Acceptability and Satisfaction
Authors: Cebolla A.  , Oliver E.  , Baños R.  , Botella C.  , Zaragozá I.  , Alcañiz M.  , Moliner R.  , Marco J.H.  , Jonquera M.  , Guillen V.
Published: February 2025

Self-monitoring techniques, such as the use of dietary registers, are considered to be central to cognitive-behavioral treatment of Eating Disorders (ED). This information allows the clinician to identify the triggers of the behaviors associated to ED as purges and/or binges, and the associated thoughts and emotions, helping to carry out a more accurate assessment. Traditionally these registers are made with paper and pencil mode, where the patient has to register every eating and the emotions/thoughts associated; but this system has some problems, as low portability, low adherence or methodological difficulties. The use of PDA for self-registers can help to solve these problems. The aim of this study is to study the levels of acceptability and satisfaction with PDAs self-register system specifically designed for assessment and treatment of ED. Samples of 30 subjects diagnosed with ED are receiving a PDA with software specifically designed for recording type and amount of food, emotions before and after eating and other behaviors. The participants are completing self-register daily during a week, and afterwards answer an acceptance and satisfaction questionnaire. This work is in progress at the moment. It is expected that the PDA system will show high levels of acceptance and satisfaction.
On a Seamless Transition from a Running EPR System to a New One
Authors: Shifrin Michael A.
Published: February 2025

An approach is proposed to provide the transition from a running EPR system to a new one seamlessly and transparent for users. The essence of the approach is to use an industrial integration platform to build a transition platform for smooth transition.
Using Collective Intelligence to Fine-Tune Public Health Policy
Authors: Marsh Andy  , Carroll Denis  , Foggie Richard
Published: February 2025

The European Union Future Internet Assembly, the roadmap for the Web heading towards semantic interoperabilityand building on the UK's adoption of the Internet and social media are accelerating the development of Web 3.0. A number of health portals are opening, some with facilities for the capture of Patient Based Records. Collective Intelligence will be generated that, applied to health, has potential to support Public Health policy. By using the Internet, millions of people in the course of their daily activities contribute to uncertified data stores, some explicitly collaborating to create collective knowledge bases, some contributing implicitly through the patterns of their choices and actions. An application of soft computing, called Collective Health Intelligence, that reasons uncertified and certified data could enhance the social pool of existing health knowledge available to the public health agencies. Collective Health Intelligence could be used to complement national programmes by employing innovative sampling techniques, cost-effectively generating anonymous data trends that would quantify policy, indicate epidemiological effects and supply metrics to test policy efficacy.
Patient Opportunities in the Estonian Electronic Health Record System
Authors: Tiik Madis  , Ross Peeter
Published: February 2025

Estonia is the first country which has implemented a nationwide electronic health record system and gives full access to its citizens. This provides new opportunities to citizens, healthcare providers and e-health developers. Combining health data, citizens' self added health and welfare data, decision support and possibilities of service oriented architecture of the Estonian Electronic Health Record System – a new era of e-health services can begin.
The Mixed Management of Patients' Medical Records: Responsibility Sharing Between the Patient and the Physician
Authors: Quantin Catherine  , Fassa Maniane  , Benzenine Eric  , Jaquet-Chiffelle David-Olivier  , Coatrieux Gouenou  , Allaert François-André
Published: February 2025

Through this article, we propose a mixed management of patients' medical records, so as to share responsibilities between the patient and the Medical Practitioner by making Patients responsible for the validation of their administrative information, and MPs responsible for the validation of their Patients' medical information. Our proposal can be considered a solution to the main problem faced by patients, health practitioners and the authorities, namely the gathering and updating of administrative and medical data belonging to the patient in order to accurately reconstitute a patient's medical history. This method is based on two processes. The aim of the first process is to provide a patient's administrative data, in order to know where and when the patient received care (name of the health structure or health practitioner, type of care: out patient or inpatient). The aim of the second process is to provide a patient's medical information and to validate it under the accountability of the Medical Practitioner with the help of the patient if needed. During these two processes, the patient's privacy will be ensured through cryptographic hash functions like the Secure Hash Algorithm, which allows pseudonymisation of a patient's identity. The proposed Medical Record Search Engines will be able to retrieve and to provide upon a request formulated by the Medical Practitioner all the available information concerning a patient who has received care in different health structures without divulging the patient's identity. Our method can lead to improved efficiency of personal medical record management under the mixed responsibilities of the patient and the MP.
Effective e-Learning for Health Professional and Medical Students: The Experience with SIAS-Intelligent Tutoring System
Authors: Muñoz Diana C.  , Ortiz Alexandra  , González Carolina  , López Diego M.  , Blobel Bernd
Published: February 2025

Current e-learning systems are still inadequate to support the level of interaction, personalization and engagement demanded by clinicians, care givers, and the patient themselves. For effective e-learning to be delivered in the health context, collaboration between pedagogy and technology is required. Furthermore, e-learning systems should be flexible enough to be adapted to the students' needs, evaluated regularly, easy to use and maintain and provide students' feedback, guidelines and supporting material in different formats. This paper presents the implementation of an Intelligent Tutoring System (SIAS-ITS), and its evaluation compared to a traditional virtual learning platform (Moodle). The evaluation was carried out as a case study, in which the participants were separated in two groups, each group attending a virtual course on the WHO Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy supported by one of the two e-learning platforms. The evaluation demonstrated that the participants' knowledge level, pedagogical strategies used, learning efficiency and systems' usability were improved using the Intelligent Tutoring System.
Compliance or Patient Empowerment in Online Communities: Reformation of Health Care Services?
Authors: Wentzer Helle  , Bygholm Ann
Published: February 2025

New technologies enable a different organization of the public's admission to health care services. The article discusses whether online support groups in patient treatment are to be understood in the light of patient empowerment or within the tradition of compliance. The back-ground material of the discussion is complementary data from quantitative research on characteristics of patient support groups, and from two qualitative, in depth studies of the impact of patient networks for lung patients and for women with fertility problems. We conclude that in spite of the potential of online communities of opening up health care to the critical voice of the public, the quantitative and qualitative studies surprisingly point to a synthesis of the otherwise opposite positions of empowerment and compliance in patient care. Thereby the critical potential of online communities in health care services seems reverted into configuring ideal patients from diverse users.
Communication Challenges in System Development: Involvement of System Developers in small-scale IT Projects
Authors: Petersen Lone Stub  , Bjoernes Charlotte D.  , Bertelsen Pernille
Published: February 2025

A well-known challenge in system development is the aspect of user participation. In this paper we shift perspective from how to involve users in system development to how project managers with a clinical background, but without technical system knowledge, can involve system developers in IT projects. Using data from the development of an online patient book (an ICT application for clinical practice), we analyze challenges using the concept of language-games. We conclude that further research and development of participatory and communicative methods to involve system developers in IT projects, based in a clinical context, is needed.
European Braces Widely Used for Conservative Scoliosis Treatment
Authors: Grivas Theodoros B.  , Kaspiris Angelos
Published: February 2025

A systematic examination of the braces commonly used in Europe lacks in literature. Therefore the objective of this report is the description of the European braces widely used. The history, design rationale, indications, biomechanics, outcomes and comparison between some braces are reported. Chêneau Brace is used in France and other European Countries. There are two Cheneau derivatives, namely the Rigo System Cheneau Brace used in Spain and the ScoliOlogiC® “Chêneau light” used in Germany. The Lyonnaise Brace is used in France and Italy. The Dynamic Derotating Brace DDB is used in Greece. The TriaC brace is applied in the Netherlands. The Sforzesco brace based on the SPoRT concept and the Progressive Action Short Brace PASB are used in Italy.
3D Spine Morphologic Differences at First Visit between Non Evolutive and Evolutive Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Nault M.L.  , Parent S.  , Roy-Beaudry M.  , de Guise J.  , Labelle H.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Prediction of progression is actually impossible in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).
Improvements in Three-Dimensional Back Contour After Spinal Fusion For Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Trawicki M.  , Liu X.C.  , Tassone C.  , Thometz J.  , Lyon R.
Published: February 2025

Quantec raster stereography has been recognized as an accurate and reliable tool for evaluating back contour and posterior truncal rotation in patients with scoliosis. In this prospective study, 35 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis underwent both spinal radiography and Quantec three-dimensional evaluation of their idiopathic scoliosis before and after surgical intervention, consisting of anterior and/or posterior spinal fusion, with or without thoracoplasty. Comparison of established key parameters showed significant improvement in thoracic and thoracolumbar Cobb angle, as well as Quantec Q-angle. Thoracic rotation, Suzuki rib hump sum, and posterior trunk asymmetry also improved due to spinal fusion.
Affected First-Degree Relatives is a Risk Factor for Curve Progression in Subjects with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Yeung H.Y.  , Tang N.L.  , Hung V.W.  , Lam T.P.  , Lee K.M.  , Ng B.K.  , Qiu Y.  , Cheng J.C.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Previous reports showed that AIS subjects with family history (fAIS) were different in clinical manifestation from those without (sAIS; sporadic). It is suggested that abnormal skeletal growth is involved in the etiopathogenesis and characteristics. It is speculated that fAIS and sAIS differ in phenotypic expressions related to skeletal growth which underlies the possible different in their pathogenesis.
Composition, Matrix Synthesis and Gene Expression Changes in Rat Tail Model of Intervertebral Disc Wedging Model of Scoliosis
Authors: Stokes Ian A.F.  , McBride Carole  , Aronsson David D.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Combinations of angulation (A), compression (C) and angulation and compression (B) reduced mobility (I) have been shown to induce intervertebral disc narrowing and increased bending stiffness in tails of growing rats (IRSSD 2008). Reduced mobility was probably present in all interventions, and in adjacent discs.
Can the MRI Signal Intensity Distribution within the Intervertebral Disc be used to Analyze the Disc Pathology and Severity?
Authors: Gervais Julien  , Périé Delphine  , Aubin Carl-Éric
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Spine diseases such as scoliosis or spondylolisthesis affect the structure and composition of the intervertebral disc (IVD). These modifications can be assessed by MRI imaging.
Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis Spinal Range of Motion Compared to Age-Matched Controls
Authors: Graf Adam  , Sturm Peter  , Hammerberg Kim  , Hassani Sahar  , Krzak Joseph  , Riordan Mary  , Zaharski Kristen  , Harris Gerald
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Little has been done to quantify the differences in spinal range of motion (ROM) between adolescents with severe idiopathic scoliosis (prior to spinal instrumentation and fusion) and typically developing individuals. This data may be useful to the debate involving levels of spinal instrumentation and loss of ROM in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis.
Systemic Gi Protein-Mediated Signal Transduction Impairment Occurs in Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Akoume Marie-Yvonne  , Turgeon Isabelle  , Franco Anita  , Larouche Ginette  , Lacroix Ginette  , Moreau Alain
Published: February 2025

Introduction: The adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common deformity arising during childhood. Although its aetiology remains unknown, we have demonstrated a differential dysfunction of melatonin signaling through Gi proteins in different cell types isolated from AIS patients, leading to their stratification into three functional subgroups. Herein we examine the extent to which Gi protein-mediated signal transduction is disturbed in AIS patients.
Modulation Role of Melatonin in Human Endochondral Ossification
Authors: Sun Guang-Quan  , Wang William Wei-jun  , Yeung Benson Hiu-yan  , Man Gene Chi-wai  , Lee Kwong-man  , Ng Tzi-bun  , Qiu Yong  , Cheng Jack Chun-yiu
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Melatonin deficiency and abnormal growth have been suggested to be involved in the development of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Multiple functions of melatonin have been described in skeleton system. It was hypothesized that melatonin might modulate endochondral ossification and regulate systemic skeletal growth.
Relationship between Position of Cerebellar Tonsil and Abnormal Somatosensory Evoked Potentials in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Chen Zhi-jun  , Qiu Yong  , Zhu Ze-zhang  , Qian Bang-ping  , Wang Bing  , Yu Yang  , Zhu Feng  , Sun Xu  , Ma Wei-wei
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Tonsillar ectopia and abnomal somatosensory evoked potential (SEPs) have been documented in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. The relationship between the position of cerebellar tonsil and SEPs in AIS patients, however, has not been widely studied.
Scoliotic vs Normal Vertebral Growth Profiles on the Progression of Idiopathic Scoliosis: a Biomechanical Study
Authors: Shi Lin  , Wang Defeng  , Driscoll Mark  , Chu Winnie C.W.  , Villemure Isabelle  , Cheng Jack C.Y.  , Aubin Carl-Eric
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Various hypotheses concerning the pathomechanism of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis have been proposed, such as the abnormal growth of the anterior spine. Accelerated growth patterns in scoliotic over healthy patients encouraged speculation that such increase is involved in the pathomechanism of scoliotic spines.
Shoulder Imbalance in The Axial Plane of Thoracic Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Qiu Yong  , Sun Guang-quan  , Wang Wei-jun  , Zhu Ze-zhang  , Liu Zhen  , Sun Xu
Published: February 2025

Introduction: In correcting the thoracic scoliosis, one of the targets is shoulder balance restoration. Shoulder balance correction in coronal plane has been well evaluated. Attention to the correction on transverse plane, however, has not been well recognized and the methods in evaluating were lacking.
Postural Control Instability in Early Detected Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Haumont Thierry  , Gauchard Gérome C.  , Lascombes Pierre  , Journeau Pierre  , Perrin Philippe P.
Published: February 2025

Objectives: Determine the relationship between the importance of spine deformity and postural control efficiency in mild adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).
Effectiveness and Quality of Life of a New TLSO compared with the Boston Brace
Authors: Hermus J.  , Hulsbosch M.  , Guldemond N.  , v. Rhijn L.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Nowadays the effectiveness of brac treatment is being questioned by the lack of compliance. Several studies showed that the in-brace correction of the thoracic and lumbar curve are not similar. Therefore we have developed the brace 2000 with a rigid lumbar module which gives extension of the lumbar spine and functions as the basis for the semi-flexible thoracic brace pad.
The Importance of Cell Density during the Culture of Chondrocytes for the Repair of Articular Cartilage
Authors: Bagnall K.M.  , Bater J.  , Secretan C.  , Barley R.  , Jomha N.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Articular cartilage (AC) repair in the spine requires expansion of chondrocyte number prior to implantation. Cell density when replicating cells are passaged is often poorly reported but evidence suggests that this may be critical for determining cell phenotype.
Programming distributed medical applications with XWCH2
Authors: Ben Belgacem Mohamed  , Niinimaki Marko  , Abdennadher Nabil
Published: February 2025

Many medical applications utilise distributed/parallel computing in order to cope with demands of large data or computing power requirements. In this paper, we present a new version of the XtremWeb-CH (XWCH) platform, and demonstrate two medical applications that run on XWCH. The platform is versatile in a way that it supports direct communication between tasks. When tasks cannot communicate directly, warehouses are used as intermediary nodes between “producer” and “consumer” tasks. New features have been developed to provide improved support for writing powerfull distributed applications using an easy API.
Support-Based Distributed Optimisation: An Approach To Radiotherapy Patient Scheduling
Authors: Billiau Graham  , Chang Chee Fon  , Miller Andrew  , Ghose Aditya
Published: February 2025

In the health system inefficiency leads to poor use of scarce expensive resources. Lengthy patient treatment waiting time can result from inefficiency in scheduling. The use of state-of-the art multi-agent and distributed computing technologies can provide a solution to address this problem. However, distributed optimisation in such a multi-agent setting poses an important challenge that requires protocols to enable agents to optimise shared objectives without necessarily revealing all of their private constraints. In this study we show that if the problem is expressed as a Dynamic Distributed Constraint Optimisation Problem a powerful algorithm such as SBDO can be deployed to solve it. As SBDO can be deployed in a grid all of the advantages of grid computing are also gained.
Internal Structure of a Disease Name and its Application for ICD Coding
Authors: Yamada Emiko  , Aramaki Eiji  , Imai Takeshi  , Ohe Kazuhiko
Published: February 2025

ICD-coding is a complex and difficult task. Coding results vary a great deal depending on each coder's ability. Although the Japanese Standard Disease-Code Master facilitates the coding tasks, it also engenders post-coordination problems derived from combinations of basic diseases (with ICD code) and modifiers. Post-coordination sometimes alters the original ICD code dramatically. To solve this problem, this paper presents a proposal for using internal structures of disease names to correct the ICD code. First, we built an internal structure analyzer, which achieved high (83.7%) accuracy. Results demonstrated that the analyzed output is helpful for precise ICD-coding tasks.
A Unified Framework for Biomedical Terminologies and Ontologies
Authors: Ceusters Werner  , Smith Barry
Published: February 2025

The goal of the OBO (Open Biomedical Ontologies) Foundry initiative is to create and maintain an evolving collection of non-overlapping interoperable ontologies that will offer unambiguous representations of the types of entities in biological and biomedical reality. These ontologies are designed to serve non-redundant annotation of data and scientific text. To achieve these ends, the Foundry imposes strict requirements upon the ontologies eligible for inclusion. While these requirements are not met by most existing biomedical terminologies, the latter may nonetheless support the Foundry's goal of consistent and non-redundant annotation if appropriate mappings of data annotated with their aid can be achieved. To construct such mappings in reliable fashion, however, it is necessary to analyze terminological resources from an ontologically realistic perspective in such a way as to identify the exact import of the ‘concepts’ and associated terms which they contain. We propose a framework for such analysis that is designed to maximize the degree to which legacy terminologies and the data coded with their aid can be successfully used for information-driven clinical and translational research.
Information-Content-based Measures for the Structure of Terminological Systems and for Data recorded using these Systems
Authors: Cornet Ronald
Published: February 2025

Terminological systems such as SNOMED CT play an increasingly important role in contemporary record keeping. This drives the need of assessing the content of these systems, as well as the content of medical records captured using these systems. In this paper, the use of information content as a measure for the structure of terminological systems and the content in medical records is explored. Two complementary information-content-based measures for terminological systems are proposed: the proportion of concepts with zero information content, and the average information content. The measures are applied to the latest releases of SNOMED CT. The measures are useful as an indicator of the overall structure of terminological systems or parts thereof. Furthermore, two measures are described which can provide an estimate for the content of medical records that is captured using a terminological system. Information content is shown to provide a useful basis for assessing the structure of terminological systems and the content of medical records.
The ObTiMA System – Ontology-based Managing of Clinical Trials
Authors: Stenzhorn Holger  , Weiler Gabriele  , Brochhausen Mathias  , Schera Fatima  , Kritsotakis Vangelis  , Tsiknakis Manolis  , Kiefer Stephan  , Graf Norbert
Published: February 2025

Clinical Trial Management Systems promise to help researchers in managing the large amounts of data occurring in clinical trials. In such systems Case Report Forms for capturing all patient data can usually be defined freely for a given trial. But if database definitions are automatically derived from such trial-specific definitions then the collected data cannot be easily compared to or integrated into other trials. We address this interoperability issue with an approach based on ontology and semantic data mediation. This resulted in the development of the ObTiMA system which is composed of a component for setting-up clinical trials and another for handling patient data during trials. Both components offer data reusability by relying on shared concepts defined in an ontology covering the whole cancer care and research spectrum.
The Impact of a Growing Minority Population on Identification of Duplicate Records in an Enterprise Data Warehouse
Authors: DuVall Scott L.  , Fraser Alison M.  , Kerber Richard A.  , Mineau Geraldine P.  , Thomas Alun
Published: February 2025

Patient medical records are often fragmented across disparate healthcare databases, potentially resulting in duplicate records that may be detrimental to health care services. These duplicate records can be found through a process called record linkage. This paper describes a set of duplicate records in a medical data warehouse found by linking to an external resource containing family history and vital records. Our objective was to investigate the impact database characteristics and linkage methods have on identifying duplicate records using an external resource. Frequency counts were made for demographic field values and compared between the set of duplicate records, the data warehouse, and the external resource. Considerations for understanding the relationship that records labeled as duplicates have with dataset characteristics and linkage methods were identified. Several noticeable patterns were identified where frequency counts between sets deviated from what was expected including how the growth of a minority population affected which records were identified as duplicates. Record linkage is a complex process where results can be affected by subtleties in data characteristics, changes in data trends, and reliance on external data sources. These changes should be taken into account to ensure any anomalies in results describe real effects and are not artifacts caused by datasets or linkage methods. This paper describes how frequency count analysis can be an effective way to detect and resolve anomalies in linkage results and how external resources that provide additional contextual information can prove useful in discovering duplicate records.
The Need for Standardised Documents in Continuity of Care: Results of Standardising the eNursing Summary
Authors: Hübner Ursula  , Flemming Daniel  , Heitmann Kai U.  , Oemig Frank  , Thun Sylvia  , Dickerson Audrey  , Veenstra Marcia
Published: February 2025

Continuity of care is a concept that is defined as the uninterrupted and coordinated care provided to a patient and that includes an informational dimension which describes the information exchange between the parties involved. In nursing, the nursing summary is the main instrument to ensure informational continuity of care. The aim of this paper is to present an HL7 Clinical Document Architecture based document standard for the eNursing Summary and to discuss the need for harmonizing these results at international level. The eNursing Summary proposed in this paper was developed on the basis of several internationally accepted concepts, primarily the nursing process, the ISO 18104 Reference Terminology Model for Nursing and various data sets. The standardisation process embraced several phases of involving nursing experts for validating its structure and content. It was finally evaluated by a network of 100 healthcare organizations. We argue that the eNursing Summary is a good starting point for standardising nursing discharge and transfer documents on a global level. However, further work is needed to bring together the different national and international strands in standardisation. .
Finding Knowledge Translation Articles in CINAHL
Authors: Lokker Cynthia  , McKibbon K. Ann  , Wilczynski Nancy L.  , Haynes R. Brian  , Ciliska Donna  , Dobbins Maureen  , Davis David A.  , Straus Sharon E.
Published: February 2025

Background: The process of moving research into practice has a number of names including knowledge translation (KT). Researchers and decision makers need to be able to readily access the literature on KT for the field to grow and to evaluate the existing evidence. Methods: To develop and validate search filters for finding KT articles in the database Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL). A gold standard database was constructed by hand searching and classifying articles from 12 journals as KT Content, KT Applications and KT Theory. Main outcome measures: Sensitivity, specificity, precision, and accuracy of the search filters.
Mini Stare-HI: Guidelines for reporting health informatics evaluations in conference papers
Authors: de Keizer Nicolette F.  , Talmon Jan  , Ammenwerth Elske  , Brender Jytte  , Nykanen Pirkko  , Rigby Michael
Published: February 2025

Background: To improve the quality of reports of health informatics evaluations we recently devised and published a guideline named STARE-HI, now formally endorsed by IMIA. Objective: To develop a prioritization framework of ranked items (a mini-STARE-HI) to assist authors when reporting health informatics evaluation studies in a restricted space conference paper. Method: We invited 111 editors of health informatics conference proceedings and reviewers and authors of health informatics evaluation studies to score 106 reporting items on a scale ranging from “0 - not necessary” through to “10 - essential” by a web-based survey. Results: The response rate for the survey was 63% (70 out of 111). The most important items (score >9) were “Interpret the data and give an answer to the study question”, “Whether it is a laboratory, simulation or field study” and “Description of the outcome measure/evaluation criteria”. Four items had a mean score <6. Conclusion: It has been possible to produce a ranking of reporting items from STARE-HI according to their prioritized relevance for inclusion in space-limited conference papers. We believe that this prioritization framework can improve quality and utility of conference papers on health informatics evaluation studies.
A Multi-method Approach to Evaluate Health Information Systems
Authors: Yu Ping
Published: February 2025

Systematic evaluation of the introduction and impact of health information systems (HIS) is a challenging task. As the implementation is a dynamic process, with diverse issues emerge at various stages of system introduction, it is challenge to weigh the contribution of various factors and differentiate the critical ones. A conceptual framework will be helpful in guiding the evaluation effort; otherwise data collection may not be comprehensive and accurate. This may again lead to inadequate interpretation of the phenomena under study. Based on comprehensive literature research and own practice of evaluating health information systems, the author proposes a multimethod approach that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative measurement and centered around DeLone and McLean Information System Success Model. This approach aims to quantify the performance of HIS and its impact, and provide comprehensive and accurate explanations about the casual relationships of the different factors. This approach will provide decision makers with accurate and actionable information for improving the performance of the introduced HIS.
Implementation of a Patient Data Management System – An evaluation study of workflow alterations
Authors: Bürkle Thomas  , Castellanos Ixchel  , Tech Hendryk  , Prokosch Hans-Ulrich
Published: February 2025

This paper describes a combined evaluation approach for an information system on intensive care units. Staff self assessment of time needed for documentation activities during admission, daily treatment and discharge/transfer has been compared to a workflow analysis which demonstrated that the system eliminated process steps mainly in daily documentation activities. Interestingly, nursing staff reported major time savings rather during discharge/transfer than in daily documentation, whereas physicians noticed no time savings at all. We conclude that combining workflow analysis with either self assessment of time needed or alternatively appropriate time measurements or both increases insight into organizational changes and their implications after system implementation.
Indexing the medical open access literature for textual and content-based visual retrieval
Authors: Eggel Ivan  , Müller Henning
Published: February 2025

Over the past few years an increasing amount of scientific journals have been created in an open access format. Particularly in the medical field the number of openly accessible journals is enormous making a wide body of knowledge available for analysis and retrieval. Part of the trend towards open access publications can be linked to funding bodies such as the NIH1(National Institutes of Health) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF2) requiring funded projects to make all articles of funded research available publicly.
A Framework for Comparing Phenotype Annotations of Orthologous Genes
Authors: Bodenreider Olivier  , Burgun Anita
Published: February 2025

Objectives: Animal models are a key resource for the investigation of human diseases. In contrast to functional annotation, phenotype annotation is less standard, and comparing phenotypes across species remains challenging. The objective of this paper is to propose a framework for comparing phenotype annotations of orthologous genes based on the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) indexing of biomedical articles in which these genes are discussed. Methods: 17,769 pairs of orthologous genes (mouse and human) are downloaded from the Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) system and linked to biomedical articles through Entrez Gene. MeSH index terms corresponding to diseases are extracted from Medline. Results: 11,111 pairs of genes exhibited at least one phenotype annotation for each gene in the pair. Among these, 81% have at least one phenotype annotation in common, 80% have at least one annotation specific to the human gene and 84% have at least one annotation specific to the mouse gene. Four disease categories represent 54% of all phenotype annotations. Conclusions: This framework supports the curation of phenotype annotation and the generation of research hypotheses based on comparative studies.
Discovering Novelty in Sequential Patterns: application for analysis of microarray data on Alzheimer disease
Authors: Bringay Sandra  , Roche Mathieu  , Teisseire Maguelonne  , Poncelet Pascal  , Abdel Rassoul Ronza  , Verdier Jean-Michel  , Devau Gina
Published: February 2025

Analyzing microarrays data is still a great challenge since existing methods produce huge amounts of useless results. We propose a new method called NoDisco for discovering novelties in gene sequences obtained by applying data-mining techniques to microarray data. Method: We identify popular genes, which are often cited in the literature, and innovative genes, which are linked to the popular genes in the sequences but are not mentioned in the literature. We also identify popular and innovative sequences containing these genes. Biologists can thus select interesting sequences from the two sets and obtain the k-best documents. Results: We show the efficiency of this method by applying it on real data used to decipher the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer disease. Conclusion: The first selection of sequences based on popularity and innovation help experts focus on relevant sequences while the top-k documents help them understand the sequences.
Balancing centralised and decentralised EHR approaches to manage standardisation
Authors: Rosenbeck Kirstine Hjære  , Randorff Rasmussen Anne  , Elberg Pia Britt  , Andersen Stig Kjær
Published: February 2025

Balancing regional and national electronic health record (EHR) approaches requires cooperation between clinical and technical experts at different organisational levels. Bridging is necessary to achieve interoperability between regional EHR systems, without neglecting the clinical usefulness. This study has investigated the approaches chosen in modelling the clinical content of EHRs in two out of five regions in Denmark. Based on the knowledge obtained in these studies a ‘clinical content format’ was developed to facilitate the work of the regions, where the clinical content of EHR systems is modelled. The objective of the clinical content format is to enable share and reuse across organisations, furthermore an objective is to gradually introduce standards. The results of the first iteration of a ‘clinical content format’ are presented and future adjustments are discussed based on the results.
What effect does electronic ordering have on the organisational dynamics of a hospital pathology service?
Authors: Georgiou Andrew  , Westbrook Johanna I.  , Braithwaite Jeffrey
Published: February 2025

The aim of this triangulated (multi-method, multi-setting, multi-staged) study was to identify the consequences of an electronic ordering system on the functioning and organisational dynamics of a hospital pathology service. The study was carried out in five pathology departments during the period August 2005 to April 2006. It included five focus groups involving 21 participants and 67 interviews with 38 participants, along with a total of 21 hours of observation. The findings revealed three key themes with implications for the functioning and organisational dynamics of the pathology service. These included: a) work process changes that affect the output of the pathology laboratories; b) temporal considerations, particularly as they related to efficiency of laboratory processes; and c) communication channels and the resulting changes in the mode of information exchange and communication. These themes emerged from a close analysis of the contextual setting of each department. Successful CPOE implementation should be premised on a solid understanding of the organisational, communication, information and temporal circumstances in which the system will operate.
Medication Counseling: Analysis of Electronic Documentation Using the Clinical Care Classification System
Authors: Saranto Kaija  , Moss Jacqueline  , Jylhä Virpi
Published: February 2025

Medication counseling is a central aspect of medication safety. Counseling refers to the process of informing, advising and administering medication to help patients manage their medication regimen. This pilot study examined 379 descriptions of medication counseling carried out in surgical care and documented in an electronic patient record system by using the Clinical Care Classification System. The objective was to identify counseling methods and to evaluate the need for additional counseling descriptor codes in the record. Eleven counseling methods were identified and the data were classified according to counseling methods with and without documentation of the nature of the interaction with patients. There were no descriptions of the nature of counseling conducted in 127 of the documented entries. These results can be used when developing the documentation of medication care in electronic patient records.
Participatory interaction design in user requirements specification in healthcare
Authors: Martikainen Susanna  , Ikävalko Pauliina  , Korpela Mikko
Published: February 2025

Healthcare information systems are accused of poor usability even in the popular media in Finland. Doctors especially have been very critical and actively expressed their opinions in public. User involvement and user-centered design methods are seen as the key solution to usability problems. In this paper we describe a research case where participatory methods were experimented within healthcare information systems development in medicinal care in a hospital. The study was part of a larger research project on Activity-driven Information Systems Development in healthcare. The study started by finding out about and modeling the present state of medicinal care in the hospital. After that it was important to define and model the goal state. The goal state, facilitated by the would-be software package, was modeled with the help of user interface drawings as one way of prototyping. Traditional usability methods were extended during the study. According to the health professionals' feedback, the use of participatory and user-centered interaction design methods, particularly user interface drawings enabled them to describe their requirements and create common understanding with the system developers.
Cognitive Evaluation of a Physician Data Query Tool for a National ICU Registry: Comparing Two Think Aloud Variants and Their Application in Redesign
Authors: Peute Linda W.  , de Keizer Nicolette F.  , Jaspers Monique W.M.
Published: February 2025

Applying usability methods in formative evaluations of interactive healthcare information systems design is recognized as of extreme importance to the final success of these systems. However, it seems that the merits of specific methodological approaches for conducting these studies have received little attention. This study reports on a cognitive evaluation of a Physician Data Query Tool, which offers physicians the opportunity to query quality of care data collected by the Dutch National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) foundation. A comparison in terms of usefulness and utility of two variants of the Think Aloud method is addressed, the Concurrent and Retrospective Think Aloud. These methods are well known in the field of Human Computer Interaction in the context of usability evaluation. The results of this research indicate that though both methods have their disadvantages and benefits, in redesigning the Physician Data Query tool the Retrospective Think Aloud provided more useful input to the Tool's redesign. However, in deciding which method to apply in a formative evaluation study, end users' cognitive workload of performing the system's tasks and the system characteristics need to be considered as well.
EHR Implementation in South Africa: How do we get it right?
Authors: Yogeswaran Parimalaranie  , Wright Graham
Published: February 2025

In an environment of expanding demand on the health care system to provide equitable, accessible and safe health care, usage of information communication technology is one of the strategies identified to fulfil such expectations. Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an important tool towards achieving better health care using such technology, although, across the world EHR implementation has experienced a high failure rate. Nevertheless South Africa has made a strategic decision to implement EHR system in the public health sector. An evaluation toolkit was developed, to measure the state of readiness of health institutions in South Africa in implementing EHR based on Kaplan and Norton's work on Balanced Score Card (BSC), and the subsequent variant model developed by Protti. A Critical Success Factor (CSF) scorecard to assess the state of readiness and a Balanced Score Card matrix to be used as a strategic framework was developed. These tools were validated using critiques by a panel of experts. The toolkit developed has the potential to assist the organization towards a better EHR implementation path.
A Socio-Technical Approach to Continuity of Care and Electronic Records in the South African Context
Authors: Mostert-Phipps Nicky  , Pottas Dalenca  , Korpela Mikko
Published: February 2025

Paper-based techniques of record keeping are contributing greatly to the discontinuity of patient care among healthcare providers. To achieve continuity, access to the information contained in medical records collected by various healthcare providers is necessary. To improve the sharing of information contained in these medical records the use of electronic methods of record keeping as opposed to paper-based records becomes very important. Even though the benefits of using electronic methods of record keeping are widely documented, the majority of South African healthcare practitioners still use paper-based methods. This paper describes an explorative study to determine barriers to the adoption of electronic records in the private primary care sector of South Africa. An interpretive approach using a socio-technical systems theory perspective was used to conduct the study. Based on the analysis of the socio-technical subsystems in the South African context it was revealed that there is not sufficient information available on the barriers to adoption of electronic records and further research will be necessary to identify the barriers to the adoption of electronic records.
Combining Vital Events Registration, Verbal Autopsy and Electronic Medical Records in Rural Ghana for Improved Health Services Delivery
Authors: Ohemeng-Dapaah Seth  , Pronyk Paul  , Akosa Eric  , Nemser Bennett  , Kanter Andrew S.
Published: February 2025

This paper describes the process of implementing a low-cost ‘real-time’ vital registration and verbal autopsy system integrated within an electronic medical record within the Millennium Village cluster in rural Ghana. Using MGV-Net, an open source health information architecture built around the OpenMRS platform, a total of 2378 births were registered between January 2007 and June 2009. The percentage of births registered in the health facility under supervision of a skilled attendant increased substantially over the course of the project from median of 35% in 2007 to 64% in 2008 and 85% midway through 2009. Building additional clinics to reduce distance to facility and using the CHEWs to refer women for delivery in the clinics are possible explanations for the success in the vital registration. The integration of vital registration and verbal autopsies with the MGV-Net information system makes it possible for rapid assessment of effectiveness and provides important feedback to local providers and the Millennium Villages Project.