PurposeSocial media greatly enhances public access to health information and thus attracts older adults who tend to attach more importance to their health. This study aims to identify the factors that contribute to the likelihood of older adults' health information sharing on social media.Design/methodology/approachBy drawing on health belief (HBM) and elaboration likelihood models (ELM), a novel conceptual model integrating older adults' health belief and information processing is established to uncover the factors. Online survey data from 290 Chinese older adult users of WeChat, the most popular social media platform in China, were collected to test the research model.FindingsAs health belief-related variables, perceived susceptibility is positively associated with health information-sharing intention (HISI), while perceived severity negatively influences HISI, which is contrary to prior findings. For information processing, the positive impacts of argument quality and source credibility on HISI are fully mediated by perceived usefulness.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first studies to explore the initiative use of information and communication technology among older adults. The new theoretical perspective proposed herein considers health belief and information processing perspectives in a complementary manner and can facilitate an overall analysis of the factors influencing older adults' HISI in a social media context. This study also furthers understandings of the ELM and expands the theory of HBM to take the age of decision makers into account.
BackgroundRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) which are of poor quality tend to exaggerate the effect estimate and lead to wrong or misleading conclusions. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of randomization methods, allocation concealment and blinding within traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) RCTs, discuss issues identified for current TCM RCTs, and provide suggestions for quality improvement.MethodsWe searched Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM, 1978 to July 31, 2009) and the Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2009) to collect TCM systematic reviews and meta-analyses according to inclusion/exclusion criteria, from which RCTs could be identified. The quality assessment involved whether the randomization methods, allocation concealment and blinding were adequate or not based the study reported. Stratified analyses were conducted of different types of diseases published in different journals (both Chinese and foreign) using different interventions. SPSS 15.0 software was used for statistic analyses.ResultsA total of 3159 RCTs were included, of which 2580 were published in Chinese journals and 579 in foreign journals. There were 381 (12%) RCTs which used adequate randomization methods; 207 (7%) RCTs which used adequate allocation concealment and 601 (19%) which used adequate blinding; there were 130 (4%) RCTs which both used adequate randomization methods and allocation concealment; and there were only 100 (3%) RCTs which used adequate randomization methods, allocation concealment, as well as blinding. In the RCTs published in foreign journals, the adequate randomization methods, allocation concealment and blinding accounted for a relatively large proportion (25%, 26%, and 60%, respectively) and increased with years, while in the RCTs published in Chinese journals, only the adequate randomization methods improved over time. The quality of non-drug intervention (chiefly acupuncture) RCTs was higher than that of drug intervention RCTs. In drug intervention, the quality of listed drugs is higher than the others. The quality of all included RCTs of all types of diseases was generally poor and no studies that were large in size and of high quality were found.ConclusionThe quality of the current TCM RCTs as judged by their publications is generally poor, especially those published in Chinese journals. In future, researchers of TCM RCTs should attach more importance to experimental design and methodological quality, receive relevant training, and improve reporting quality using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement, so as to improve the quality of TCM clinical research and ensure truth and reliability of conclusions.
The majority of patients surveyed expressed willingness to contribute to patient safety, but their knowledge about patient safety practices was generally very limited.
BackgroundOnline health care services effectively supplement traditional medical treatment. The development of online health care services depends on sustained interactions between health care professionals (HCPs) and patients. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the demands and gains of health care stakeholders in HCP-patient online interactions and determine an agenda for future work.ObjectiveThis study aims to present a systematic review of the antecedents and consequences of HCP-patient online interactions. It seeks to reach a better understanding of why HCPs and patients are willing to interact with each other online and what the consequences of HCP-patient online interactions are for health care stakeholders. Based on this, we intend to identify the gaps in existing studies and make recommendations for future research.MethodsIn accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, a systematic retrieval was carried out from the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus electronic databases. The search results were confined to those papers published in English between January 1, 2000 and June 30, 2018. Selected studies were then evaluated for quality; studies that did not meet quality criteria were excluded from further analysis. Findings of the reviewed studies related to our research questions were extracted and synthesized through inductive thematic analysis.ResultsA total of 8440 records were found after the initial search, 28 papers of which were selected for analysis. Accessibility to HCPs, self-management, and unmet needs were the main triggers for patients to participate in online interaction. For HCPs, patient education, career needs, and self-promotion were the major reasons why they took the online approach. There were several aspects of the consequences of HCP-patient online interactions on health care stakeholders. Consequences for patients included patient empowerment, health promotion, and acquisition of uncertain answers. Consequences for HCPs included social and economic returns, lack of control over their role, and gaining more appointments. HCP-patient online interactions also improved communication efficiency in offline settings and helped managers of online health care settings get a better understanding of patients’ needs. Health care stakeholders have also encountered ethical and legal issues during online interaction.ConclusionsThrough a systematic review, we sought out the antecedents and consequences of HCP-patient online interactions to understand the triggers for HCPs and patients to participate and the consequences of participating. Potential future research topics are the influences on the chain of online interaction, specifications and principles of privacy design within online health care settings, and roles that sociodemographic and psychological characteristics play. Longitudinal studies and the adoption of text-mining method are worth encouraging. This paper is expected to contribute to the sustained progress of online heal...
Background:Mental disorders are strongly associated with disabilities. National survey on disability could provide a reliable basis for policymaking in care and rehabilitation of disabled persons. This study aimed to describe the disability prevalence rates attributed to mental disorders, their distribution by sociodemographic factors, and utilizations of service.Methods:This study is a secondary data analysis of the Second National Sample Survey on Disability in 2006. The disability and severity were assessed using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. Mental disorders were diagnosed according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders. Using descriptive and analytic epidemiological methods, prevalence rates of disability attributed to mental disorders and service use were calculated.Results:Data of 2,526,145 respondents were analyzed. The disability prevalence rate attributed to mental disorders in China was 6.3‰, accounting for 9.9% of all disabled people. Regarding disability prevalence attributed to mental disorders, it showed that gender, residential area, marital status, education level, and economic area were related to the prevalence distributions. The proportions of mild disability were highest in the disabled people with onset age of 18–64 years, while the proportion of extremely severe disability was highest in the disabled people with onset age of 65 years and above. Only 58.6% of disabled people attributed to mental disorders used some of the services.Conclusions:There are statistical differences of disability prevalence attributed to mental disorders by people and region in China. Service use in disabled people with mental disorders is insufficient.
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