Background: Interventions to promote mental well-being can bring benefits to the individual and to society. The Internet can facilitate the large-scale and low-cost delivery of individually targeted health promoting interventions. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a self-directed Internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral skills training tool in improving mental well-being in a population sample. Methods: This was a randomized trial with a waiting-list control. Using advertisements on...

Background: Online weight loss programs are increasingly popular. However, little is known about outcomes and associations with website usage among members of free online weight loss programs. Objective: This retrospective cohort study examined the association between website usage and weight loss among members of a free commercial online weight loss program (SparkPeople). Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of a systematic random sample of members who joined the program during...

Background: Misreporting food intake is common because most health screenings rely on self-reports. The more accurate methods (eg, weighing food) are costly, time consuming, and impractical. Objectives: We developed a new instrument for reporting food intake—an Internet-based interactive virtual food plate. The objective of this study was to validate this instrument’s ability to assess lunch intake. Methods: Participants were asked to compose an ordinary lunch meal using both a...

Background: Depression is common and treatable with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), for example. However, access to this therapy is limited. Internet-based interventions have been found to be effective in reducing symptoms of depression. The International Society for Research on Internet Interventions has highlighted the importance of translating effective Internet programs into multiple languages to enable worldwide dissemination. Objective: The aim of the current study was to determine if...

Background: Web-based smoking cessation interventions can have a public health impact because they are both effective in promoting cessation and can reach large numbers of smokers in a cost-efficient manner. Their potential impact, however, has not been realized. It is still unclear how such interventions promote cessation, who benefits most, and how to improve their population impact. Objective: To examine the effectiveness of a highly promoted Web-based smoking cessation intervention to...

Background: The Internet and other eHealth technologies offer a platform for improving the dissemination and accessibility of psychoeducational programs for youth with chronic illness. However, little is known about the recruitment process and yield of diverse samples in Internet research with youth who have a chronic illness. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of youth with Type 1 diabetes on recruitment, participation, and...

Background: Adherence to Internet-delivered lifestyle interventions using multiple tailoring is suboptimal. Therefore, it is essential to invest in proactive strategies, such as periodic email prompts, to boost re-use of the intervention. Objective: This study investigated the influence of content and timing of a single email prompt on re-use of an Internet-delivered computer-tailored (CT) lifestyle program. Methods: A sample of municipality employees was invited to participate in the...

Background: Mobile phone applications (apps) provide a new platform for delivering tailored human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention and care. Objective: To identify and evaluate currently available mobile phone apps related to the prevention and care of HIV and other STDs. Methods: We searched the Apple iTunes and Android Google Play stores for HIV/STD-related apps, excluding apps that exclusively targeted industry, providers, and researchers. Each...

Background: Internet-based interventions using cognitive behavioral approaches can be effective in promoting self-management of chronic pain conditions. Web-based programs delivered via smartphones are increasingly used to support the self-management of various health disorders, but research on smartphone interventions for persons with chronic pain is limited. Objective: The aim of this trial was to study the efficacy of a 4-week smartphone-delivered intervention with written diaries and...

Background: Mobile phone based remote monitoring of medication adherence and physiological parameters has the potential of improving long-term graft outcomes in the recipients of kidney transplants. This technology is promising as it is relatively inexpensive, can include intuitive software and may offer the ability to conduct close patient monitoring in a non-intrusive manner. This includes the optimal management of comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes. There is, however, a lack...

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) describes the use of portable electronic devices with software applications to provide health services and manage patient information. With approximately 5 billion mobile phone users globally, opportunities for mobile technologies to play a formal role in health services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, are increasingly being recognized. mHealth can also support the performance of health care workers by the dissemination of clinical...

Background: It is imperative to understand how to engage young women in research about issues that are important to them. There is limited reliable data on how young women access contraception in Australia especially in rural areas where services may be less available. Objective: This paper identifies the challenges involved in engaging young Australian women aged 18-23 years to participate in a web-based survey on contraception and pregnancy and ensure their ongoing commitment to follow-up...

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an incurable neurological disease with approximately 0.3% prevalence. The hallmark symptom is gradual movement deterioration. Current scientific consensus about disease progression holds that symptoms will worsen smoothly over time unless treated. Accurate information about symptom dynamics is of critical importance to patients, caregivers, and the scientific community for the design of new treatments, clinical decision making, and individual...

Background: Sixty percent of Internet users report using the Internet to look for health information. Social media sites are emerging as a potential source for online health information. However, little is known about how people use social media for such purposes. Objectives: The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to establish the frequency of various types of online health-seeking behaviors, and (2) to identify correlates of 2 health-related online activities, social networking sites...

Background: Approximately 300,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) annually in the United States. Less than 30% of out-of-hospital victims receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) despite the American Heart Association training over 12 million laypersons annually to conduct CPR. New engaging learning methods are needed for CPR education, especially in schools. Massively multiplayer virtual worlds (MMVW) offer platforms for serious games that are promising learning methods that...

Background: Web-based digital repositories allow educational resources to be accessed efficiently and conveniently from diverse geographic locations, hold a variety of resource formats, enable interactive learning, and facilitate targeted access for the user. Unlike some other learning management systems (LMS), resources can be retrieved through search engines and meta-tagged labels, and content can be streamed, which is particularly useful for multimedia resources. Objective: The aim of this...

Background: Although telemonitoring is increasingly used in heart failure care, data on expectations, experiences, and organizational implications concerning telemonitoring are rarely addressed, and the optimal profile of patients who can benefit from telemonitoring has yet to be defined. Objective: To assess the actual status of use of telemonitoring and to describe the expectations, experiences, and organizational aspects involved in working with telemonitoring in heart failure in the...

Background: The Internet’s potential impact on suicide is of major public health interest as easy online access to pro-suicide information or specific suicide methods may increase suicide risk among vulnerable Internet users. Little is known, however, about users’ actual searching and browsing behaviors of online suicide-related information. Objective: To investigate what webpages people actually clicked on after searching with suicide-related queries on a search engine and to...

Background: The Internet provides new opportunities for parents of children with difficult illnesses and disabilities to find information and support. The Internet is particularly important for caregivers of children with special needs due to numerous health-related decisions they face. For at-risk populations, online support communities can become key settings and channels for health promotion and communication. Objective: This study is an initial exploration of information seeking and...

Background: Guideline developers use different consensus methods to develop evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Previous research suggests that existing guideline development techniques are subject to methodological problems and are logistically demanding. Guideline developers welcome new methods that facilitate a methodologically sound decision-making process. Systems that aggregate knowledge while participants play a game are one class of human computation applications. Researchers...

Socioeconomic disparities influence the usage rate of advanced communication technologies in Canada. It is important to assess all patient interactions with computers and electronic devices based on these socioeconomic differences. This project studied the ease of use of a touch-screen interface program for collecting patient feedback. The interface collected feedback on physicians’ communication skills, an important health concern that has been garnering more and more attention. A...

Background: The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. Tokyo and Osaka, which are located 375 km and 750 km, respectively, from the epicenter, experienced tremors of 5.0 lower and 3.0 seismic intensity on the Japan Meteorological Agency scale. The Great East Japan Earthquake was the fourth largest earthquake in the world and was accompanied by a radioactive leak at a nuclear power plant and a tsunami. In the aftermath of a disaster, some affected individuals presented to...

In daily life, humans are constantly interacting with their environment. Evidence is emerging that this interaction is a very important modulator of health and well-being, even more so in our rapidly ageing society. Information and communication technology lies at the heart of the human health care revolution. It cannot remain acceptable to use out of date data analysis and predictive algorithms when superior alternatives exist. Communication network speed, high penetration of home broadband,...

Background: Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are important tools to improve health care outcomes and reduce preventable medical adverse events. However, the effectiveness and success of CDSS depend on their implementation context and usability in complex health care settings. As a result, usability design and validation, especially in real world clinical settings, are crucial aspects of successful CDSS implementations. Objective: Our objective was to develop a novel CDSS to help...

Background: Work-related stress is a significant problem for both people and organizations. It may lead to mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, resulting in increased work absences and disabilities. Scalable interventions to prevent and manage harmful stress can be delivered with the help of technology tools to support self-observations and skills training. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of the P4Well intervention in treatment of stress-related...

Background: An eHealth intervention using computer tailored technology including several behavior change techniques was developed to support the self-management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Objective: The goal of this study was to evaluate and improve the usability of the eHealth intervention. Methods: We conducted a usability evaluation with 8 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, with a mixed methods design. We improved the usability through iterative cycles...

Background: Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) is a form of guided self-help that has been found to be effective for addressing several problems. The target for this type of therapy is usually restricted to one specific disorder. Tailoring the treatment widens the scope of ICBT in that it can address comorbid conditions directly. Objectives: The working, or therapeutic, alliance has been found to predict outcome in studies of face-to-face therapy. The extent to which these...

Background: Physicians´ lack of knowledge contributes to underuse of insulin and poor glycemic control in adults with diabetes mellitus (DM). Traditional continuing medical education have limited efficacy, and new approaches are required. Objective: We report the design of a trial to assess the educational efficacy of InsuOnline, a game for education of primary care physicians (PCPs). The goal of InsuOnline was to improve appropriate initiation and adjustment of insulin for the...

Background: Federal meaningful use standards are promoting adoption of online portals to personal health records (PHRs). However, relatively little is known regarding barriers and facilitators for vulnerable groups such as persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH). Objective: The objective of this study was to assess barriers and facilitators to use of online PHRs among PLWH. Methods: We conducted formative research using a written waiting room survey among 120 PLWH regarding...

Background: Due to limited reporting of intervention rationale, little is known about what distinguishes a good intervention from a poor one. To support improved design, there is a need for comprehensive reports on novel and complex theory-based interventions. Specifically, the emerging trend of just-in-time tailoring of content in response to change in target behavior or emotional state is promising. Objective: The objective of this study was to give a systematic and comprehensive...

Background: Population-based empirical information to inform health care professionals working with children with spina bifida currently is lacking. Spina bifida is a highly complex condition that not only affects mobility but many additional aspects of life. We have developed a pilot project that focuses on a broad range of domains: surgeries, development and learning, nutrition and physical growth, mobility and functioning, general health, and family demographics. Specifically, we will: (1)...

Background: Internet interventions may provide opportunities for low threshold counseling using feedback to guide and support health behavior, including increased physical activity. Research shows that overweight and obese adolescents are less physically active than their peers of normal weight. There are good reasons to believe that Internet-based interventions may be particularly suitable for motivating adolescents to increase physical activity, but we need to gain further knowledge of what...