BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making - Latest articlesThe latest articles from BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making (ISSN 1472-6947) published by BioMed CentralTowards pervasive computing in health care - a literature review- June 19, 2008 Background: The evolving concepts of pervasive computing, ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence are increasingly influencing health care and medicine. Summarizing published research, this literature review provides an overview of recent developments and implementations of pervasive computing systems in health care. It also highlights some of the experiences reported in deployment processes. Methods: There is no clear definition of pervasive computing in the current literature. Thus...http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/8/26 Communicating effectiveness of intervention for chronic diseases: what single format can replace comprehensive information- June 19, 2008 Background: There is uncertainty about how GPs should convey information about treatment effectiveness to their patients in the context of cardiovascular disease. Hence we study the concordance of decisions based on one of four single information formats for treatment effectiveness with subsequent decisions based on all four formats combined with a pictorial representation. Methods: A randomized study comprising 1,169 subjects aged 40-59 in Odense, Denmark. Subjects were randomized to receive...http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/8/25 Discussing life expectancy with surgical patients: Do patients want to know and how should this information be delivered- June 15, 2008 Background: Predicted patient life expectancy (LE) and survival probability (SP), based on a patient's medical history, are important components of surgical decision-making and informed consent. The objective of this study was to assess patients' interpretation of and desire to know information relating to LE, in addition to establishing the most effective format for discussion. Methods: A cross sectional survey of 120 patients (mean age = 68.7 years, range 50-90 years), recruited from general..http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/8/24 An update on Uniform Resource Locator (URL) decay in MEDLINE abstracts and measures for its mitigation- June 11, 2008 Background: For years, Uniform Resource Locator (URL) decay or "link rot" has been a growing concern in the field of biomedical sciences. This paper addresses this issue by examining the status of the URLs published in MEDLINE abstracts, establishing current availability and estimating URL decay in these records from 1994 to 2006. We also reviewed the information provided by the URL to determine if the context that the author cited in writing the paper is the same information...http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/8/23 Evaluation of SOVAT: An OLAP-GIS decision support system for community health assessment data analysis- June 9, 2008 Background: Data analysis in community health assessment (CHA) involves the collection, integration, and analysis of large numerical and spatial data sets in order to identify health priorities. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) enable for management and analysis using spatial data, but have limitations in performing analysis of numerical data because of its traditional database architecture.On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is a multidimensional datawarehouse designed to facilitate...http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/8/22 Design of a graphical and interactive interface for facilitating access to drug contraindications, cautions for use, interactions and adverse effects- June 2, 2008 Background: Drug iatrogeny is important but could be decreased if contraindications, cautions for use, drug interactions and adverse effects of drugs described in drug monographs were taken into account. However, the physician's time is limited during consultations, and this information is often not consulted. We describe here the design of Mister VCM'', a graphical interface based on the VCM graphical language, facilitating access to drug monographs. We also provide an assessment of the...http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/8/21 |