Digital Health bits | March 4th 2020
Digital diabetes prevention program use tied to weight reduction among low-income patients with prediabetes
A sample of low-income patients engaged with Omada Health’s digital diabetes prevention program (DPP), achieved weight loss but no major difference in HbA1c levels after a year of use, according to study data recently highlighted by the company.
The results — published late last year in the CDC’s Preventing Chronic Disease journal and first previewed at a 2018 public health conference — suggest an alternative approach to diabetes prevention for a population that more often has difficulty accessing in-person health services.
“The Omada program lowers the barriers to access, and ultimately increases preventive health engagement among any population,” Omada Director of Clinical Research Cynthia Castro Sweet, who was also an author on the paper alongside researchers from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, said in a statement. “Our program was developed to serve the needs of participants from all backgrounds, and all walks of life. The results of this trial dispels the myth that people with economic or educational disadvantages can’t or won’t use technology to engage in their health care.”
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Mental health trust introduces virtual reality for phobia treatment
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has introduced virtual reality as part of the treatments it offers patients suffering from various phobias.
The trust’s Wellbeing service is now using VR headsets to help service users in both counties to tackle everything from fear of needles, heights, flying and spiders to agoraphobia and claustrophobia.
As part of their treatment, patients are gradually exposed to situations they would usually avoid in a virtual environment, helping them manage their reactions in a safe and controlled environment.
This will take place as part of a wider treatment plan and in addition to talking therapies.
While virtual reality technology is being put to use within a number of NHS trusts, NSFT is thought to be one of the first mental health trusts to offer VR for such an extensive range of phobias, which includes fear of exams, driving, public speaking and storms.
Nesta Reeve, consultant clinical psychologist and clinical lead for the Wellbeing service, said: “We are really excited to be one of the first to introduce this technology so widely and hope it will make a real difference to lots of people who are struggling with a variety of different fears."
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Virtual games help people stand and walk in rehab
VR, activity monitors and handheld devices can increase the chances people will stand and walk, the largest trial into the effects of digital devices in rehabilitation, carried out through three hospitals, has found.
Participants used on average four different devices while in hospital and two different devices when at home. Fitbits were the most commonly used digital device but also tested on people in hospital and at home were a suite of devices like Xbox, Wii and iPads, making the exercises more interactive and enabling remote connection with their physiotherapist.
Trial participants were recovering from strokes, brain injuries, falls and fractures. The study was undertaken at hospitals in Sydney and Adelaide and had 300 participants ranging from 18 to 101 years old.
Those who exercised using digital devices in addition to their usual rehabilitation were found to have better mobility (walking, standing up and balance) after three weeks and six months than those who just completed their usual rehabilitation.
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Skin cancer apps ‘cannot be relied upon for accurate results’, study finds
Smartphone apps designed to detect the risk of skin cancer are poorly regulated and “frequently cannot be relied upon to produce accurate results”, according to a new analysis.
Researchers based in the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Applied Health Research, in collaboration with the Centre of Evidence-Based Dermatology at the University of Nottingham, have analysed a series of studies produced to evaluate the accuracy of six different apps.
Their results, published in The BMJ, reveal a mixed picture, with only a small number of studies showing variable and unreliable test accuracy among the apps evaluated.
They found the apps may cause harm from failure to identify potentially deadly skin cancers, or from over-investigation of false positive results such as removing a harmless mole unnecessarily.
Lead researcher, Dr Jac Dinnes, from the Institute of Applied Health Research, said: “This is a fast-moving field and it’s really disappointing that there is not better quality evidence available to judge the efficacy of these apps.
“It is vital that healthcare professionals are aware of the current limitations both in the technologies and in their evaluations.”
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Digital health tools are more important than ever to physicians
Physicians have been using more digital health tools since 2016, according to the American Medical Association, which first benchmarked the transformation at that time. According to continued research, the AMA reports that more physicians than ever say they understand the benefits of digital health tools for driving improved efficiency and safety at the point of care.
AMA Digital Health Research regularly reports on the shifts in adoption of digital health tools, as well as assessing attitudes and expectations among physicians.
Through its research, the AMA reviews seven categories of solutions for clinical purposes, interpreting and using clinical data, managing outcomes, and other measures of care quality.
Accordingly, adoption trends in these areas help propel the digital transformation of healthcare.
“The rise of the digital-native physician will have a profound impact on health care and patient outcomes, and will place digital health technologies under pressure to perform according to higher expectations,” said AMA board chair Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH.
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NHS team reports potential for AI in rapid detection of lung cancer
An algorithm developed by a UK tech start-up has been found to be capable of competently identifying lung cancers by a team at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.
The Red Dot algorithm, developed by artificial intelligence (AI) software company behold.ai, was fed a sample of chest X-rays from 1,513 patients who had been directly referred by a GP over a two-week period in June and July 2019.
The algorithm correctly identified the presence and location of 10 out of 11 incidences where cancers were later histologically confirmed through tissue samples tested in a lab..
While 1,513 examinations were analysed using the algorithm, the team was specifically interested in cases that were referred by a radiologist or reporting radiographer for a CT scan directly after an X-ray, to confirm or rule out the presence of cancer.
The radiology team suspected the disease in 39 out of the 1,513 X-rays and referred those 39 patients for a CT scan.
Dr Indrajeet Das, a consultant radiologist at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust who worked on the project, said: “The AI project is in its early days, but the initial outcomes are very promising. The next steps would be to run clinical trials to create a sound evidence base to demonstrate that it is both safe and beneficial in clinical practice.”
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Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer
VP Global Sales at RxPrism Health Systems
4 年Hi Fabio - I like these 3 the most - 1. Digital diabetes prevention program use tied to weight reduction among low-income patients with prediabetes 2.Mental health trust introduces virtual reality for phobia treatment 3.Virtual games help people stand and walk in rehab Any metrics on how successful these have been ?