STUDY OBJECTIVE The study aimed to consider the impact of two different types of reminder on response rates and costs in a postal survey. DESIGN The study was a cross sectional survey. A self-completion lifestyle questionnaire was used. Those who did not respond after the initial mailing were randomly allocated to receive either a postcard or questionnaire as a first reminder. All outstanding...

To diagnose hypertension, multiple blood pressure (BP) measurements are recommended. We randomized patients into three groups: EMR-only (patients recorded BP measurements in an electronic medical record [EMR] web portal), EMR + reminders (patients were sent text message reminders to record their BP measurements in the EMR), and bi-directional text messaging (patients were sent a text message as...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Medical students increasingly log patient encounters on handheld computers. Detailed patient records captured at the bedside would allow these log programs to complement medical education with automated reminders. We evaluated progress toward this goal. METHODS A series of electronic student encounter logs (ESEL) were designed to quickly record common diagnoses in a ...

vaccination of high-risk patients reduced winter hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and tests for respiratory ailments by 10% to 20%. As part of a three-year randomized trial, physicians of patients at high risk for serious illness from influenza infection in the study group received computer reminders to take preventive-care actions, while physicians of high-risk patients in the control ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES This study assessed the effect of automated prenatal care reminders on adherence to standards of prenatal care at two family medicine teaching clinics. METHODS This was a reversal-design prospective study using medical records of prenatal patients during baseline, intervention, and post-intervention periods. RESULTS A total of 9.5% of patients received all guidelin...

death has been and is the most important problem of human being throughout the history. every man is innately in the pursuit of immortality, life and well-fare as they also hate destruction and annihilation. this problem as well as related views and analyses of the true nature of death, the elements of reducing the dread of death have all direct effect on meaningfulness of life. whether or not ...

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic disease that may affect patients’ quality of life. We investigated the quality of life (QoL) and its related factors in psoriasis patients. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 123 patients with psoriasis vulgaris were enrolled, who were at the age of 18-55 years. The QoL was assessed by the psoriasis disability index (PDI...

a:4:{s:10:"Background";s:1701:"Endometriosis is a gynecological benign tumor that is estrogen-dependent, in this kind of disease uterus tissue grows into the pelvic cavity of ectopic, and 20-30% of these patients are infertile. Clinical symptoms such as dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia and depression and in some cases arise in asymptomatic. Because the lack of ovulation and menstruation, the pain reli...

BACKGROUND The opportunity to improve care using computer reminders is one of the main incentives for implementing sophisticated clinical information systems. We conducted a systematic review to quantify the expected magnitude of improvements in processes of care from computer reminders delivered to clinicians during their routine activities. METHODS We searched the MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL...

BACKGROUND Adherence to evidence-based therapies such as medications and exercise remains poor among patients after a myocardial infarction (MI). Text message reminders have been shown to improve rates of adherence to medication and exercise, but the existing studies have been of short duration. OBJECTIVE Two single-center randomized controlled pilot trials were conducted to evaluate the impa...