BackgroundThe increasing utilization of the internet has provided a better opportunity for people to search online for health information, which was not easily available to them in the past. Studies reported that searching on the internet for health information may potentially influence an individual’s decision making to change her health-seeking behaviors.ObjectiveThe objectives of this study were to (1) develop and validate 2 questionnaires to estimate the strategies of problem-solving in medicine and utilization of online health information, (2) determine the association between searching online for health information and utilization of online health information, and (3) determine the association between online medical help-seeking and utilization of online health information.MethodsThe Problem Solving in Medicine and Online Health Information Utilization questionnaires were developed and implemented in this study. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis to examine the structure of the factor loadings and intercorrelations for all the items and dimensions. We employed Pearson correlation coefficients for examining the correlations between each dimension of the Problem Solving in Medicine questionnaire and each dimension of the Online Health Information Utilization questionnaire. Furthermore, we conducted structure equation modeling for examining the possible linkage between each of the 6 dimensions of the Problem Solving in Medicine questionnaire and each of the 3 dimensions of the Online Health Information Utilization questionnaire.ResultsA total of 457 patients participated in this study. Pearson correlation coefficients ranged from .12 to .41, all with statistical significance, implying that each dimension of the Problem Solving in Medicine questionnaire was significantly associated with each dimension of the Online Health Information Utilization questionnaire. Patients with the strategy of online health information search for solving medical problems positively predicted changes in medical decision making (P=.01), consulting with others (P<.001), and promoting self-efficacy on deliberating the online health information (P<.001) based on the online health information they obtained.ConclusionsPresent health care professionals have a responsibility to acknowledge that patients’ medical decision making may be changed based on additional online health information. Health care professionals should assist patients’ medical decision making by initiating as much dialogue with patients as possible, providing credible and convincing health information to patients, and guiding patients where to look for accurate, comprehensive, and understandable online health information. By doing so, patients will avoid becoming overwhelmed with extraneous and often conflicting health information. Educational interventions to promote health information seekers’ ability to identify, locate, obtain, read, understand, evaluate, and effectively use online health information are highly encouraged.

BackgroundThe ageing process may lead to reductions in physical fitness, a known risk factor in the development of metabolic syndrome. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate cross-sectional and combined associations of metabolic syndrome with body composition and physical fitness in a community based geriatric population.MethodsA total of 628 community-dwelling elders attending a geriatric health examination were enrolled in the study. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was based on the modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) criterion with Asian cutoff of waist girth was adopted in this study. Body composition was obtained using bioimpedance analysis, and physical fitness was evaluated through the measurement of muscle strength (handgrip force), lower extremity muscle endurance (sit-to-stand test), flexibility (sit-and-reach test), and cardiorespiratory endurance (2-minute step test). Multivariable logistic regression and correlation analysis were performed to determine the association of metabolic syndrome with body composition and functionality variables.ResultsMetabolic syndrome was associated with increased skeletal muscle index (SMI) (odds ratio (OR), 1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.25–2.07) and decreased flexibility (OR, 0.97, 95% CI, 0.95–0.99) compared with those without metabolic syndrome. When body mass index was accounted for in the analysis, the association of SMI with metabolic syndrome was reduced. Waist circumference was positively correlated with SMI but negatively correlated with flexibility, whereas high density lipoprotein was positively correlated with flexibility but negatively correlated with SMI.ConclusionReduced flexibility was positively associated with metabolic syndrome independent of age, gender, body composition, and functionality measurements in a community based geriatric population. Significant associations between metabolic syndrome with muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness in the elderly were not observed. Furthermore, flexibility should be included in the complete evaluation for metabolic syndrome.

Objective This study investigated factors associated with the referral compliance of positive immunochemical faecal occult blood test (iFOBT). Setting Data were from a subset of people who received iFOBT at Taipei county of Taiwan in 2005. Methods All subjects with positive iFOBT were referred to hospital for further diagnostic examinations. In total, 226 such subjects who did not accept referral within 60 days were identified as the non-compliant group from the record of Public Health Bureau. Frequency-matched 219 subjects were sampled from the 599 people who accepted referral within 60 days as the compliant group. Telephone interviews were performed according to questionnaire designed basically under the Health Belief Model. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess effects of possible associated factors for referral compliance. Results A total of 145 persons in the compliant group and 115 persons in the non-compliant group completed the interview. Factors including 'perceived susceptibility' and 'cue to action: information' were positively associated with, while 'casual personality' was negatively associated with referral compliance. Conclusions Three factors in Health Belief Model were associated with referral compliance after positive FOBT. INTRODUCTION Colorectal cancer is the third in cancer incidence 1 and the fourth in cancer mortality 2 in Taiwan. Mortality can be reduced by using faecal occult blood test (FOBT) 3,4 and complete diagnostic examination (CDE) after positive FOBT. [5][6][7][8] The US preventive taskforce suggested annual FOBT examination for colon cancer screening. 9People aged between 50 and 69 years can receive free immunochemical FOBT (iFOBT) every two years in Taiwan.People with positive result in FOBT should be followed with CDE to reduce the mortality of colorectal cancer. [5][6][7][8] However, most previous researches focused on factors affecting the compliance of receiving first-line screening tests. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with the referral compliance of people with positive iFOBT result in Taipei County of Taiwan. METHODS Model, definition of variables and questionnaire designWe defined the variables and designed our questionnaire basically according to the Health Belief Model 10 (Appendix 1). Questionnaire testing and revisionThe preliminary questionnaire was sent to five experts for content validity. The questionnaire was revised according to their comments. Six persons with positive iFOBT in Taipei City were selected to do the pre-test before starting the investigation. Questions that cannot be fully understood were further revised (Appendix 2). Subjects and sample size estimationAccording to the results of a previous study in southern Taiwan, 20 if we assumed a proportion of 0.2 as a factor in the non-compliant group, we need 95 subjects in each group for an equal-size design to test an odds ratio (OR) of 2.5 in a two-sided test at a significant level of 0.05 and power of 0.80. In Taipei County, a total of 38,504 people received i...

A light-mixing module consisting of a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) and a fiber for mixing light from red, green, blue, and white (RGBW) LEDs was proposed. The design principle was investigated and a design prototype was demonstrated in a simulation. The simulated results showed that the chromatic nonuniformity was reduced to 1/10 when the fiber length was 40 times the core width, and the module efficiencies were more than 80% and more than 60% when the fiber lengths were 350 mm and 5 m, respectively. The proposed module is suitable for solar lighting compensation or indoor lighting, such as plant-factory lighting.