Development of a Health Education Application Smartphone-based FoCED to Increase Knowledge About Foot Care In Patients With Diabetes Mellitus

One such complication is a diabetic foot ulcer that can lead to amputation. Various strategies are taken to reduce the occurrence of injuries in diabetic mellitus patients. One of them is through foot care education packaged by using interesting media. Through the development of smartphone-based applications, it aims to help patients and families perform the right foot care anytime and anywhere. The purpose of this activity is to develop educational media while increasing the knowledge of patients and families about performing foot care. The method used is to develop educational media in the form of applications on smartphones and measure knowledge score before and after education. In addition, during the education of patients and families, they will be followed up 3 times in 1 week. The targets of this program are diabetic patients and families at PKU Muhammadiyah Pontianak Clinic. The results of this activity show that smartphone-based "FoCED" foot care education applications can increase patient and family knowledge.

Role of Family Physician in Periodic Health Assessment Screening: A Review

A family physician is considered the first line of healthcare with patients. In the public sector, a medical officer is a generalist with no postgraduate training. The periodic health assessment has its roots at least as far back as the industrial revolution, employers paid for annual medical fitness examinations and tests to assess the state of their workers with intention of keeping their workforce healthy and safe. The technique is now included into the work of primary care physicians and is still practiced across multiple countries but it may be named with a different name such as Periodic health examination (PHE). The PHE allows for the implementation of evidence-based preventative measures, the education of patients on lifestyle issues, the updating of vaccines, and, most importantly, the detection of risk factors and diagnoses by updating the patient's cumulative profile. In low-risk individuals, however, treatment may not be essential every year. There’s serious question about the value of Periodic health assessment/examination. In this article we’ll be reviewing the PHE, its value and the role of family physician in it.

Comprehensive approach for the treatment of medication-overuse headache

Background: Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is defined by the International Classification of Headache Disorders as a headache in patients with a pre-existing primary headache disorder that occurs on 15 or more days per month for more than 3 months. It is caused by overuse of medication for acute or symptomatic headache treatment. Regular and frequent use of acute or symptomatic medications can worsen headaches and lead to chronic headache or MOH. MOH is a burdensome medical condition that is difficult to treat, and the frequent recurrence of headaches may result in disability in individuals and impair socioeconomic outcomes.Current Concepts: Awareness of MOH and the education of patients, the general population, and healthcare providers are important for the first step of treatment. Scientific research regarding the treatment of MOH has been published in the past few years.Discussion and Conclusion: Physicians should educate and counsel patients to stop or at least reduce the intake of acute or symptomatic medications that can be discontinued abruptly or tapered slowly. During the period after the discontinuation of the overused medications, some withdrawal symptoms including headache might be manageable with bridging therapy. Evidence-based preventive therapies including anticonvulsants (topiramate and divalproex sodium), botulinum toxin A, and medications acting by antagonism of the calcitonin generelated peptide pathway might be helpful in patients with MOH for both avoiding the overused medication and preventing the relapse of overuse. A comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach may improve the outcomes of patients with MOH.

Organization of the therapeutic education process in hypertension at the level of primary health care

High blood pressure is a major public health problem, with indicators of morbidity and mortality being alarming. Therapeutic education in hypertension increases the level of awareness, blood pressure control and prevents complications. The aim of the study is to evaluate the process of organizing the therapeutic education of patients with hypertension at the level of primary health care in the Republic of Moldova. Study design: descriptive, transversal, by applying the questionnaire developed in the interest of the study. Study methods: statistical, synthetic, comparative, graphical. Th e study involved 371 respondents, of which 65% family physicians, 35% nurses. The majority of medical staff (98.1%) consider therapeutic education important, 87.3% recognized the definition of therapeutic education and its benefits: blood pressure control (90.6%); decrease in mortality caused by complications (81.7%); increasing treatment compliance (72.5%); disease awareness (65.5%). The surveyed medical staff demonstrated a disproportionate involvement in the 4 stages of the organization process: 42.3% are involved in the planning stage, 93.0% - implementation 29.1% - evaluation and 54.2% - organization. The process of organizing therapeutic education is incomplete, due to the lack or insufficiency of planning and evaluation of therapeutic education of patients with hypertension.

CURRENT PROBLEMS OF THE APPLICATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL APPROACH IN THE PRESCRIPTION OF PERSONAL ORAL HYGIENE MEANS IN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT

Relevance: The use of fixed orthodontic structures increases the risk of developing dental diseases. An effective way to prevent dental diseases is personalized training and monitoring of individual oral hygiene. Purpose of the work: To increase the effectiveness of the prophylaxy of dental diseases in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: The analysis of 60 medical records in the municipal and private clinics of Saratov was carried out. The age of the patients was 13–18 years old. There also was a survey among 15 orthodontists on the subject of the identifying difficulties of using the personification of an integrated approach. A questionnaire was given to the patients. The age of the respondents was 13–18 years old. Results: According to the analysis of data from medical records in municipal and private clinics, a low prevalence of the use of an individual approach in the prescription of personal oral hygiene products in patients undergoing treatment with the use of fixed orthodontic structures was revealed, which is associated with an insufficient amount of time for admission within the framework of the compulsory medical insurance system, and also with low compliance of patients and their parents, as well as low hygienic education of patients, insufficient government attention to preventive dentistry, and lack of labor rates for dental hygienists. When questioning patients, difficulties in adhering to recommendations for personal oral hygiene was revealed. Conclusions. We have developed an algorithm of actions to improve the effectiveness of individual oral hygiene among adolescents undergoing orthodontic treatment. The proposed measures will increase the level of motivation and compliance of patients.

Influence of Interpersonal Processes on the Performance of Primary Health Care Organizations

Processes in the health sector include diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation, prevention, education of patients, and all other interactions between qualified medical personnel and patients. Interpersonal processes pertain to the psychosocial aspect of said activities and include variables that describe communication, continuity, patient awareness, and the degree of patient involvement and influence the performance of health institutions in primary health care (PHC). The dimensions of importance for researching the influence of indicators of interpersonal processes on the performance of PHC organizations were identified, taking into account the underlying theory and specifics and characteristics of PHC. This paper studies the influence that patient-centeredness, as a dominant dimension that encompasses interpersonal processes, has on effectiveness, i.e., outcomes presented through health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Data on the factors of importance for this research subject were collected in the Republic of Serbia, while data analysis was carried out using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The research results show a complex relationship between indicators of interpersonal processes, highlight the importance of this group of processes for increasing the effectiveness of PHC organizations, and demonstrate the influence of interpersonal processes on the performance of PHC organizations.

Wikipedia, friend or foe regarding information on diabetic retinopathy? A content analysis in the world’s leading 19 languages

Objective To compare the completeness and quality of information about diabetic retinopathy on Wikipedia in the world’s leading spoken languages in 2020. Design and methods An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. The information on diabetic retinopathy obtained from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia® was assessed in languages with one hundred million or more total speakers. The term "diabetic retinopathy" was accessed in the corresponding Wikipedia entry in English, while the "more languages" function gives access to other languages. The information on the sites was collected by three ophthalmologist observers. A database was created with the most important subtopics for the education of patients with diabetic retinopathy in any of its classifications, based on a 25-question survey. The results were stratified on a scale from 0 to 4. A confirming correlation was found in the statistical analysis among the observers. Results No language achieved the label “excellent”; 2 languages were rated as “fair “; 4 languages qualified as “substandard”; and 7 languages were scored as “poor.” No information could be found in five languages. Conclusions As would be expected, the quality of content is variable across different languages. However, if anyone can edit Wikipedia, health professionals can do so as well to improve the quality and quantity of information for patients.

Contribution Factors on Congenital Malformations in Neonates in Iran

Background: Congenital malformations are one of the most important and common types of anomalies in infants, and they are considered as the leading causes of disability and mortality in children. These malformations impose enormous costs on families and organizations involved in the treatment, maintenance, and education of patients. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the risk factors affecting the incidence of congenital anomalies in infants born in Iran. Methods: In this retrospective descriptive-analytical study, we registered various information of all newborns examined and their mothers, including gender, family relationship of parents, type of delivery, types of congenital malformations, anomalies of the hands and feet, and anomalies of the nervous and reproductive systems in the maternity wards of hospitals in Iran. Data were gathered using a checklist. The relationships between different factors were assessed by chi-square test, and the factors influencing congenital malformations were investigated by logistic regression using SPSS-26 software. The significance level of all tests was 0.05. Results: According to the results, 7.5% of newborns had congenital malformations. Eclampsia and diabetes mellitus increased the risk of congenital malformations by 15 and 11%, respectively. The risk of congenital malformations in rural areas was 12% higher than in urban areas. Factors such as consanguineous marriages, history of abortion, and gender also affected the risk of congenital malformations. Conclusions: Necessary measures and plans in the field of premarital counseling, regular pre-pregnancy and post-pregnancy tests and controls, especially in rural and deprived areas, are essential and effective in reducing the incidence of congenital malformations.

Reproductive Health Services: Attitudes and Practice of Japanese Community Pharmacists

The provision of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services is an important part of a community pharmacist’s role in many countries. However, such services are not traditionally provided by pharmacists in Japan. We surveyed the practice and attitudes regarding the provision of SRH services among Japanese community pharmacists with a focus on reproductive health (RH) topics. The participants were asked about the provision of RH services, attitudes toward their role as SRH providers, and self-reported confidence in providing education to patients on RH topics. We obtained 534 effective responses. About half of the participants reported providing RH services, and only 21% were involved in dispensing emergency contraception pills. Although the proportion of pharmacists providing education on these topics was considerably lower, about 80% recognized the importance of their role as SRH advisors. Confidence in providing patient education about RH topics depended on their experience in providing such services. Most participants were interested in additional SRH training (80%). Our results suggest that training programs could help to expand Japanese community pharmacists’ roles as SRH providers and increase their confidence in the education of patients. This study provides useful insights to expand pharmacists’ roles in Japan as providers of comprehensive SRH services.