Collecting and using always-on location data in surveys

As survey costs increase and response rates decrease, researchers are looking for alternative methods to collect data from study subjects. Passively collected data may offer a way to reduce the burden on research subjects while also collecting high-quality data needed for social science research. Examples of passive data collection tools are applications installed on mobile devices and sensors in subjects’ homes or worn on the body. In this study, we focus on always-on location data collected from subjects’ iPhones. To explore the promise of passively collected data to augment and improve survey data, we conducted a 2-week pilot study with 24 subjects. We discuss the utility of always-on location data and the challenges researchers may encounter when they incorporate location data in their analyses

Use of Diet-tracking Websites as a Resource for Hard-to-Find Food Label Information: An Example Using Specialty Grocery Store Items

AbstractMany specialty foods cannot be found in research-focused food databases. However, some nutrient data can be found for many of these foods through individual website searches using brand and store names. Some popular diet-tracking websites contain data for over 3 million foods, data often entered by consumers, based on non-systematic searches. The reliability of these data to guide dietary data entry decisions are unknown. Five popular diet tracking websites were used to compare availability and accuracy of data for food items from a specialty grocery store that are currently unavailable in research-focused food databases

Annotation Sensitivity: Training Data Collection Methods Affect Model Performance

When training data are collected from human annotators, the design of the annotation instrument, the instructions given to annotators, the characteristics of the annotators, and their interactions can impact training data. This study demonstrates that design choices made when creating an annotation instrument also impact the models trained on the resulting annotations. We introduce the term annotation sensitivity to refer to the impact of annotation data collection methods on the annotations themselves and on downstream model performance and predictions. We collect annotations of hate speech and offensive language in five experimental conditions of an annotation instrument, randomly assigning annotators to conditions. We then fine-tune BERT models on each of the five resulting datasets and evaluate model performance on a holdout portion of each condition. We find considerable differences between the conditions for 1) the share of hate speech/offensive language annotations, 2) model performance, 3) model predictions, and 4) model learning curves. Our results emphasize the crucial role played by the annotation instrument which has received little attention in the machine learning literature. We call for additional research into how and why the instrument impacts the annotations to inform the development of best practices in instrument design.Comment: EMNLP 2023 Findings: https://aclanthology.org/2023.findings-emnlp.992

The experiences and needs of supporting individuals of young people who self-harm: A systematic review and thematic synthesis

Self-harm in young people is a serious international health concern that impacts on those providing informal support: the supporting individuals of young people. We aimed to highlight the experiences, views, and needs of these supporting individuals of young people. We conducted a systematic review and thematic synthesis: PROSPERO CRD42020168527. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL, ASSIA, and Web of Science were searched from inception to 6 May 2020 with citation tracking of eligible studies done on 1 Oct 2021. Primary outcomes were experiences, perspectives, and needs of parents, carers, or other family members of young people aged 12–25. Searches found 6167 citations, of which 22 papers were included in synthesis. Supporting individuals seek an explanation for and were personally affected by self-harm in young people. It is important that these individuals are themselves supported, especially as they negotiate new identities when handling self-harm in young people, as they attempt to offer support. The GRADE-CERQual confidence in findings is moderate. Recommendations informed by the synthesis findings are made for the future development of interventions. Clinicians and health service providers who manage self-harm in young people should incorporate these identified unmet needs of supporting individuals in a holistic approach to self-harm care. Future research must co-produce and evaluate interventions for supporting individuals

Challenges in the management of people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in primary care : A qualitative study of general practitioner perspectives

Objectives To explore the perspectives of general practitioners (GPs) on the identification and management of people, including those from ethnic minority groups, with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF). Methods Qualitative study. Semi-structured, face-to-face or telephone interviews and focus groups were conducted with 35 GPs in England, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Framework analysis was used to manage and interpret data. Results Themes presented reflect four inter-related challenges: GPs’ 1) lack of understanding HFpEF, impacting on 2) difficulties in communicating the diagnosis, leading to 3) uncertainty in managing people with HFpEF, further hindered by (4) discontinuity across the primary/secondary interface. All were considered more challenging by GPs when managing people from different cultures and languages. Discussion HFpEF is not well understood by GPs, leading to diagnostic difficulty, management uncertainty and potential inequity in care offered. People with HFpEF are seen as complex, with multiple long-term conditions and requiring personalised care. Challenges in their management occur across the healthcare system. This study has identified learning needs for GPs around identification and on-going support for people with HFpEF in primary care. It will contribute to the development of more flexible and patient-centred pathways across the primary/secondary care interface

Textual Analysis of Tweets Associated with Domestic Violence

Background:Domestic violence is a global public health concern as stated by World Health Organization. We aimed to conduct a textual analysis of tweets associated with domestic violence through keyword identification, word trends and word collocations. The data was obtained from Twitter, focusing on publicly available tweets written in English. The objectives are to find out if the identified keywords, word trends and word col-locations can help differentiate between domestic violence-related tweets and non-domestic violence-related tweets, as well as, to analyze the textual characteristics of domestic violence-related tweets and non-domestic violence-related tweets. Methods:Overall, 11,041 tweets were collected using a few keywords over a period of 15 days from 22 March 2021 to 5 April 2021. A text analysis approach was used to discover the most frequent keywords used, the word trends of those keywords and the word collocations of the keywords in differentiating between domestic violence-related or non-domestic violence-related tweets. Results:Domestic violence-related tweets and non-domestic violence-related tweets had differentiating char-acteristics, despite sharing several main keywords. In particular, keywords like “domestic”, “violence” and “su-icide” featured prominently in domestic-violence related tweets but not in non-domestic violence-related tweets. Significant differences could also be seen in the frequency of keywords and the word trends in the col-lection of the tweets. Conclusion:These findings are significant in helping to automate the flagging of domestic-violence related tweets and alert the authorities so that they can take proactive steps such as assisting the victims in getting medical, police and legal help as needed

Effects of brief psychoeducational program on stigma in Malaysian pre-clinical medical students: a randomized controlled trial

Objective: If presented with serious mental illness (SMI), individuals’ low help-seeking behaviors and poor adherence to treatment are associated with negative stereotypes and attitudes of healthcare providers. In this study, we examined the effects of a brief psychoeducational program on reducing stigma in pre-clinical medical students. Methods: One hundred and two pre-clinical medical students (20–23 years old) were randomly assigned to face-to-face contact + educational lecture (n = 51) condition or video-based contact + educational lecture (n = 51) condition. Measures of pre-clinical medical students’ mental illness-related stigma using the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC) were administered at pre-, post-treatment, and 1-month follow-up. Results: A 2 (condition: face-to-face contact + educational lecture, video-based contact + educational lecture) by 3 (time: pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 1-month follow-up) mixed model MANOVA was conducted on the Attitudes, Disclosure and Help-Seeking, and Social Distance OMS-HC subscales. Participants’ scores on all subscales changed significantly across time, regardless of conditions. To determine how participants’ scores changed significantly over time on each subscale, Bonferroni follow-up comparisons were performed to access pairwise differences for the main effect of time. Specifically, pairwise comparisons produced a significant reduction in Social Distance subscale between pre-treatment and post-treatment and between pre-treatment and 1-month follow-up, and a significant increase between post-treatment and 1-month follow-up, regardless of conditions. With respect to the Attitudes and Disclosure and Help-Seeking subscales, pairwise comparisons produced a significant reduction in scores between pre-treatment and post-treatment and a significant increase between post-treatment and 1-month follow-up. Conclusions: Our findings provide additional evidence that educational lecture on mental illness, coupled with either face-to-face contact or video-based contact, is predictive of positive outcomes in anti-stigma programs targeting future healthcare providers

Hypertension Management Using Mobile Technology and Home Blood Pressure Monitoring: Results of a Randomized Trial in Two Low/Middle-Income Countries

Abstract Objective: Hypertension and other noncommunicable diseases represent a growing threat to low/middle-income countries (LMICs). Mobile health technologies may improve noncommunicable disease outcomes, but LMICs lack resources to provide these services. We evaluated the efficacy of a cloud computing model using automated self-management calls plus home blood pressure (BP) monitoring as a strategy for improving systolic BPs (SBPs) and other outcomes of hypertensive patients in two LMICs. Subjects and Methods: This was a randomized trial with a 6-week follow-up. Participants with high SBPs (≥140?mm Hg if nondiabetic and ≥130?mm Hg if diabetic) were enrolled from clinics in Honduras and Mexico. Intervention patients received weekly automated monitoring and behavior change telephone calls sent from a server in the United States, plus a home BP monitor. At baseline, control patients received BP results, hypertension information, and usual healthcare. The primary outcome, SBP, was examined for all patients in addition to a preplanned subgroup with low literacy or high hypertension information needs. Secondary outcomes included perceived health status and medication-related problems. Results: Of the 200 patients recruited, 181 (90%) completed follow-up, and 117 of 181 had low literacy or high hypertension information needs. The median annual income was $2,900 USD, and average educational attainment was 6.5 years. At follow-up intervention patients' SBPs decreased 4.2?mm Hg relative to controls (95% confidence interval ?9.1, 0.7; p=0.09). In the subgroup with high information needs, intervention patients' average SBPs decreased 8.8?mm Hg (?14.2, ?3.4, p=0.002). Compared with controls, intervention patients at follow-up reported fewer depressive symptoms (p=0.004), fewer medication problems (p<0.0001), better general health (p<0.0001), and greater satisfaction with care (p≤0.004). Conclusions: Automated telephone care management plus home BP monitors can improve outcomes for hypertensive patients in LMICs. A cloud computing model within regional telecommunication centers could make these services available in areas with limited infrastructure for patient-focused informatics support.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98494/1/tmj%2E2011%2E0271.pd

Metagenomic insights of the infant microbiome community structure and function across multiple sites in the United States

The gut microbiome plays an important role in early life, protecting newborns from enteric pathogens, promoting immune system development and providing key functions to the infant host. Currently, there are limited data to broadly assess the status of the US healthy infant gut microbiome. To address this gap, we performed a multi-state metagenomic survey and found high levels of bacteria associated with enteric inflammation (e.g. Escherichia, Klebsiella), antibiotic resistance genes, and signatures of dysbiosis, independent of location, age, and diet. Bifidobacterium were less abundant than generally expected and the species identified, including B. breve, B. longum and B. bifidum, had limited genetic capacity to metabolize human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), while B. infantis strains with a complete capacity for HMOs utilization were found to be exceptionally rare. Considering microbiome composition and functional capacity, this survey revealed a previously unappreciated dysbiosis that is widespread in the contemporary US infant gut microbiome