BACKGROUND: In the era of increasingly expanding digital ecosystem, health misinformation became highly risky, especially the information sources which are non-evidence based. This problem is magnified due to the vulnerability of most internet users, especially the adolescents information seekers who lack health literacy. AIM: The aim of this study is to explore the pattern of digital health usage among medical university students and their level of awareness towards choosing online health information (OHI). METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 480 medical students from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd academic years, at the Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, between October 2019 and October 2020. Students took an online structured questionnaire on google forms. RESULTS: Mobile smartphones were the most widely used technological devices by participants. Almost all participants used Internet daily 98.8%, with the highest preference to social media 72.5% and text messaging 74.8%. Seeking health information was a common practice for personal health-related purpose of using Internet 87.1%, despite the lack in checking the reliability of messages and quality of provider. Knowledge about advantages and disadvantages of digital tools was also deficient among participant medical students. CONCLUSION: Despite the high technology adoption among the university medical students, they lack the needed knowledge and skills for proper search, choosing, and evaluation of OHI.
Background: The spread of misinformation about different health issues, has become a growing threat nowadays. The process of identifying credible information became a real problem of high urgency. It took a new dimension with the creation of numerous web platforms and the ubiquity of internet coverage. During the current pandemic of COVID-19, misinformation is not the only challenge, the infodemic is another serious consequence of growing digitization. Infodemic is defined as an excessive amount of information about a problem that is typically unreliable, false, or misleading, spreads rapidly, and makes a solution more difficult to achieve. This causes anxiety and mistrust in health authorities, leading to decrease capacities for decision-making and undermining public responses, especially during disease outbreaks or pandemics. Aim: The current study was designed to evaluate the effect of implementing a digital intervention training module, to educate participants about choosing credible online health information, according to the quality standards and protocols. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with pre/post-assessment comparisons. It took place between October 2019 and May 2020 with the recruitment of a group of 480 medical students, from the 1st, the 2nd, and the 3rd academic years, at the Faculty of Medicine. They were assigned to an intervention and a control group. The intervention group attended the digital health module, which was conducted online with both its theoretical and practical components. Participants responded to the pre- and post-online questionnaire through google forms, in addition to a post-intervention assessment. Results: Results showed post-assessment significant improvements in all items related to seeking online health information and the ability to check the credibility of such information, among the intervention group in comparison to the control group with p-value< 0.05. Conclusion: The infodemic caused by COVID- 19 pandemic, with all its associated psychological pressure and panic due to misinformation, made it crucial to disseminate awareness about credible digital information sources. Targeted digital health interventions regarding online health information quality and credibility, are highly promising, due to the safe outreach and accessibility without any physical contact, especially during the pandemic time.
Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complicated disorder. Up to 50% of its variance could be related to environmental factors. Aim: Environmental risk factors for ASD were studied among cases and controls. Additionally, the effects of some targeted interventional approaches on the severity of ASD and language abilities were compared. Methodology: This study was conducted on 61 autistic children (3-12 years) who visited the outpatient clinic for "Children with ASD" from September 2021 to February 2022. They were subjected to the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, and the Arabic Preschool Language Scale. The control subjects (N=62) were selected from volunteers. A questionnaire was designed for studying the environmental risk factors. Children with ASD were then divided into two groups: Group a (N=30) received phoniatric therapy; Group b (N=31) received phoniatric therapy and dietary supplementation. After 3 months, both groups were reassessed. Results: Risk factors such as maternal exposure to disinfectants and cleaners (78.7%), moderate maternal (39.3 %) and paternal (47.5 %) educational level, pregnancy in Summer (19.6%), delivery in Spring (19.6%) and prematurity (91.8%), showed significant statistical difference between cases and control subjects (P=0.
Mobile health (mHealth) has emerged as a substantial segment of eHealth. Herein, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate mHealth app barriers, usability, and personalization in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. We used a Google survey to recruit participants from both countries between the 15th of September and the 15th of October 2022. Among 299 participants (247 from Egypt and 52 from Saudi Arabia), aged ≥ 18 years, 27.4% reported mHealth app use. In the age-, sex-, and country-adjusted regression models, age > 25 years: OR (95% CI) = 1.98 (1.11, 3.54), residing in Saudi Arabia: OR (95% CI) = 4.33 (2.22, 8.48), and physical activity: OR (95% CI) = 2.53 (1.44, 4.44) were associated with mHealth app use. The main mHealth app purposes were lifestyle promotion (35.4%), diet and nutrition (30.5%), and administrative services (13.4%). On a scale from 20 to 100, mHealth app usability scores were 46.3% (20–40), 7.3% (41–60), 31.7% (61–80), and 14.7% (81–100). According to 93.9% of users, mHealth app features were modifiable to meet personal health goals, while 37% stated that mHealth apps helped them set new personal health goals. In conclusion, age, residing in Saudi Arabia (compared to Egypt), and physical activity were positively associated with mHealth app use. mHealth app feature personalization and helping users set new personal health goals were largely reported, suggesting that mHealth has the potential to help put personalized healthcare into practice.
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