Social Media–Promoted Weight Loss Among an Occupational Population: Cohort Study Using a WeChat Mobile Phone App-Based Campaign

He, Chao; Wu, Shiyan; Zhao, Yingying; Li, Zheng; Zhang, Yanyan; Jia, Le; Wang, Lei; Wan, Siyang; Li, Changqing; Li, Yindong; Sun, Xia

doi:10.2196/jmir.7861

Cited by 94 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

131

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It allows multi-purpose messaging which can facilitate real-time communications among doctors, and between patients and doctors. This app has previously been effectively used in mass public health education programmes [27,28]. In Tibet, we have employed the WeChat app to link with electronic medical records (EMR) and monitoring boxes to support tuberculosis patients in completing their treatment under harsh travel conditions [29].…”

Section: (Continued From Previous Page)mentioning

confidence: 99%

An antibiotic stewardship programme to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in rural Chinese primary care facilities: study protocol for a clustered randomised controlled trial

Zhuo

Wei

Zhang

et al. 2020

Trials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics for acute respiratory infections at the primary care level represents the major source of antibiotic misuse in healthcare, and is a major driver for antimicrobial resistance worldwide. In this study we will develop, pilot and evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive antibiotic stewardship programme in China's primary care hospitals to reduce inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics for acute respiratory infections among all ages.Methods: We will use a parallel-group, cluster-randomised, controlled, superiority trial with blinded outcome evaluation but unblinded treatment (providers and patients). We will randomise 34 primary care hospitals from two counties within Guangdong province into the intervention and control arm (1:1 overall ratio) stratified by county (8:9 within-county ratio). In the control arm, antibiotic prescribing and management will continue through usual care. In the intervention arm, we will implement an antibiotic stewardship programme targeting family physicians and patients/caregivers. The family physician components include: (1) training using new operational guidelines, (2) improved management and peer-review of antibiotic prescribing, (3) improved electronic medical records and smart phone app facilitation. The patient/ caregiver component involves patient education via family physicians, leaflets and videos. The primary outcome is the proportion of prescriptions for acute respiratory infections (excluding pneumonia) that contain any antibiotic(s). Secondary outcomes will address how frequently specific classes of antibiotics are prescribed, how frequently key non-antibiotic alternatives are prescribed and the costs of consultations. We will conduct a qualitative process evaluation to explore operational questions regarding acceptability, cultural appropriateness and burden of technology use, as well as a cost-effectiveness analysis and a long-term benefit evaluation. The duration of the intervention will be 12 months, with another 24 months' post-trial long-term follow-up.(Continued on next page)

show abstract

Section: (Continued From Previous Page)mentioning

confidence: 99%

An antibiotic stewardship programme to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in rural Chinese primary care facilities: study protocol for a clustered randomised controlled trial

Zhuo

Wei

Zhang

et al. 2020

Trials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…And one of the most popular functional modules of WeChat called 'WeChat official accounts', which can be used for developers, merchants, celebrities, and organizations to communicate and interact with their audience through text, images, voice, videos and rich-media messages [26]. WeChat is gradually changing the channels through which people receive information, and has been used as a communication tool to change health behaviors, which has shown potential positive impacts on disease management of cancer [27], malaria [28], asthma [29], chronic rhinosinusitis [30], diabetes [31] and weight loss [32]. However, no studies have focused on using WeChat to support caregivers with infant and young child feeding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

WeChat can be a potential way to deliver infant and young child feeding recommendations in rural areas in China: A mixed quantitative and qualitative study

Wu¹,

Huang²,

Velthoven³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Appropriate infant and young child feeding practices are the basis for child nutrition, which can be influenced by mothers’ exposure to health promotion messages. In China, WeChat is gradually changing the channels people receive information. This paper aims to explore the feasibility of using WeChat as an intervention to improve Infant and young child feeding in rural China. Methods A mixed-methods study was carried out in Huzhu County, Qinghai province, China. Quantitative data were from two cross-sectional surveys with children aged 6-23 months and their caregivers to collected feeding knowledge and practices, caregiver’s use of smartphones and WeChat in 2012 (N=1804) and 2018 (N=754), respectively. Qualitative data were from 33 semi-structured interviews with pregnant women and mothers. In addition, we developed a WeChat feeding health education platform and asked women for their using experiences. Results In both surveys, less than 10% of caregivers knew that breastfeeding can be continued up to two years, less than 50% knew the accurate duration of exclusive breastfeeding, and only around 20% knew meat should be given to children from the age of 6-8 months. Similarly, the feeding practices were suboptimal and most key infant feeding practices did not change over the years. In both surveys, only around 30% of caregivers ever received feeding information during pregnancy or after delivery. Among them, around 50% of caregivers received from their relatives and friends, followed 30% from health facilities and communities. More than 80% of mothers were currently using both a smartphone and the WeChat app. Mothers could easily access the internet on their smartphones (90.8%), as WiFi was available at home or at the workplace. Furthermore, 75.4% of them were willing to receive feeding information from WeChat official accounts. The WeChat feeding health education platform was generally accepted by pregnant women and mothers. Conclusions Caregivers’ feeding knowledge and practices were poor in Huzhu County, and there was an absence of accurate information sources on infant feeding and child nutrition. WeChat could be a potential way to deliver infant feeding recommendations to mothers in rural China.

show abstract

“…As a social medium, WeChat carries a variety of topics and articles, of which many are concerning medical expertise [14][15][16]. Doctors are a part of the large community of WeChat users, and many researchers have noted this phenomenon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Current Status and a New Approach for Chinese Doctors to Obtain Medical Knowledge Using Social Media: A Study of WeChat

Liu

Wei

Zhang

et al. 2018

Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background. WeChat is the most widely and frequently used mobile social media in China and has profoundly integrated into the daily life of many Chinese people. A variety of medicine-related information may be found on WeChat. As users of WeChat, doctors often access health-related information and even provide a variety of medical services or participate in various types of mobile communication with patients. Objective. This study is the first attempt to quantitatively explore the approaches by doctors of acquiring medical knowledge using Internet resources especially social media such as WeChat to access knowledge. Methods. A self-administered questionnaire was designed, distributed, collected, and analyzed utilizing the online survey tool Sojump. WeChat was adopted to randomly release the questionnaires using snowball sampling and collect the results after a certain amount of time. Results. 292 valid questionnaires out of 314 questionnaires by clinical doctors were analyzed. Regarding the current status of accessing medical knowledge among doctors, more than 60% of the doctors regularly used the Internet to search for medical knowledge, 19.86% used WeChat as a channel to acquire medical knowledge, and only 23.97% were satisfied with acquiring medical knowledge through the Internet. Regarding the frequency of WeChat usage, nearly 40% of the doctors accessed WeChat more than 20 times per day and over 70% used WeChat for over half an hour every day. Regarding the status of accessing medical knowledge through WeChat, nearly half (47.26%) of the doctors stated that they often read professional medical articles on WeChat and the most common channel is friends’ moment sharing and public account subscriptions, with selection rates of 59.93% and 60.27%, respectively. The most desirable mode of acquiring medical knowledge through WeChat was the following: “professional medical knowledge from peers, with a reminder.” Conclusion. WeChat has become a nonnegligible means of acquiring medical knowledge for busy Chinese physicians in a mobile environment. Further evaluation and improvement of the quality of medical knowledge on WeChat are needed. The recommendation of individualized articles through social media may become another contributing factor for doctors to acquire medical knowledge effectively and efficiently.

show abstract

Social Media–Promoted Weight Loss Among an Occupational Population: Cohort Study Using a WeChat Mobile Phone App-Based Campaign

Cited by 94 publications

References 32 publications

An antibiotic stewardship programme to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in rural Chinese primary care facilities: study protocol for a clustered randomised controlled trial

An antibiotic stewardship programme to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in rural Chinese primary care facilities: study protocol for a clustered randomised controlled trial

WeChat can be a potential way to deliver infant and young child feeding recommendations in rural areas in China: A mixed quantitative and qualitative study

The Current Status and a New Approach for Chinese Doctors to Obtain Medical Knowledge Using Social Media: A Study of WeChat

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About