bims-librar Biomed News
on Biomedical librarianship
Issue of 2024–01–21
23 papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society



  1. Med Ref Serv Q. 2024 Jan-Mar;43(1):43(1): 72-79
      Medical librarians can increase their work visibility and highlight their unique role on evidence synthesis teams with searchRxiv, an open access repository that makes librarian's efforts easily citable and resolves longstanding challenges pertaining to reproducing full search strategies within literature review articles. This column will discuss how to navigate searchRxiv to find, reuse, and cite published search strategies, as well as the process of depositing search strategies.
    Keywords:  Evidence synthesis; expert searching; hedge book; librarian authorship; reproducibility; research data management; search hedges; search strategies
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2024.2286856
  2. Med Ref Serv Q. 2024 Jan-Mar;43(1):43(1): 15-25
      This study sought to provide a protocol for searching complex medical cases of grand rounds. A clinical informationist was embedded in gastroenterology grand rounds to use comprehensive search strategies and summarize patients' information through concept mapping. Our proposed protocol classifies into three categories: (1) The general search strategy, (2) The protocol for searching for evidence about rare diseases, and (3) Identifying other resources more than routine medical databases. This approach represents a novel method beyond previous studies which were focused on usual ward rounds to facilitate evidence-based decision-making by providing and simplifying a comprehensive summary view of complex medical cases.
    Keywords:  Concept formation; grand rounds; information retrieval; rare diseases; teaching rounds
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2024.2289797
  3. Med Ref Serv Q. 2024 Jan-Mar;43(1):43(1): 1-14
      This article reports the results from an anonymous survey sent to working graduate nursing students. The survey asked about nurses' awareness of medical librarians at the healthcare institutions where they work. Less than half of the survey respondents were aware that medical librarians were available to them at work. Less than half of the survey respondents claimed they consulted with a medical librarian at work or witnessed another nurse consulting with a medical librarian. The disconnect between academia and patient care is part of the 15-year research-to-bedside gap that exists in nursing. Medical librarians can help to close the gap.
    Keywords:  Evidence-based nursing; evidence-based practice; graduate nursing students; nurses; survey
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2024.2289334
  4. Med Ref Serv Q. 2024 Jan-Mar;43(1):43(1): 26-43
      As academic libraries shift services to meet the changing needs of patrons after the COVID-19 pandemic, educational technologies and services to support them require updating. Patrons using technology that was once associated with hands-on learning and in-person interactions are preferring flexible and hybrid iterations. In this case study, the authors describe and analyze the pivot of three technology services at the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library in the post-COVID-19 environment. Technologies discussed include a multimedia studio, virtual reality (VR), and a three-dimensional (3D) printing service. This case study utilizes available usage stats and survey data to demonstrate and provide rationale for the changing strategy in services for each technology "hub." The multimedia studio has been dismantled in favor of the equipment being available for checkout, VR is now available in a staff-supported classroom, and a 3D printing service has been fully automated through an online submission platform. These examples, and the rationale behind changing them, can help offer ideas for other libraries to help find solutions that meet the demands of a changing learning environment.
    Keywords:  3D printing; Academic health sciences libraries; curriculum support; extended reality; makerspace; multimedia studio; technology expertise; virtual reality
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2024.2290416
  5. Med Ref Serv Q. 2024 Jan-Mar;43(1):43(1): 44-58
      Visual misinformation poses unique challenges to public health due to its potential for persuasiveness and rapid spread on social media. In this article, librarians at the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System identify four types of visual health misinformation: misleading graphs and charts, out of context visuals, image manipulation in scientific publications, and AI-generated images and videos. To educate our campus's health sciences audience and wider community on these topics, we have developed a range of instruction about visual health misinformation. We describe our strategies and provide suggestions for implementing visual misinformation programming for a variety of audiences.
    Keywords:  Artificial intelligence; data visualization; deepfakes; digital literacy; health literacy; health sciences library; image manipulation; instruction; misinformation; reverse image search; scientific fraud; visual misinformation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2024.2290963
  6. Med Ref Serv Q. 2024 Jan-Mar;43(1):43(1): 82-93
      This paper discusses the design and implementation of the H5P image hotspots and describes additional use cases for library instruction in order to teach learners from across the country on how different spaces can be used to create private, accessible areas where patrons can conduct telehealth appointments. The Network of the National Library of Medicine created an online class using H5P image hotspots to allow learners to virtually explore a physical space. The class used Moodle, an open-source learning platform, and H5P image hotspots to demonstrate how libraries implemented telehealth programs.
    Keywords:  Library instruction; accessibility; instructional technology; interactive; library spaces
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2024.2293444
  7. Med Ref Serv Q. 2024 Jan-Mar;43(1):43(1): 59-71
      Hospital librarians receive invites to teach thinking and searching in an evidence-based way and critical appraisal of the literature to nurses. With these invitations, the hospital librarians play a central role in establishing an evidence-based culture in the hospital and contribute to the nursing staff feeling competent and confident in fulfilling evidence-based competencies. This author just prepared a 17-minute online talk as part of an international nursing webinar on "searching nursing literature in an evidence-based way." Using this experience, remembering other teaching and presentation experiences, and some "help" from AI tools, this experienced hospital librarian suggests decision points for colleagues to create a meaningful, practical information session for nurses and introduce to some AI tools along the way.
    Keywords:  AI; ChatGPT; Claude-2 large language model; Llama large language model; critical appraisal; evidence-based practice; hospital librarian; nurses; teaching
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2024.2289335
  8. Res Integr Peer Rev. 2024 Jan 19. 9(1): 1
       BACKGROUND: Objectives of this study were to analyze the impact of including librarians and information specialist as methodological peer-reviewers. We sought to determine if and how librarians' comments differed from subject peer-reviewers'; whether there were differences in the implementation of their recommendations; how this impacted editorial decision-making; and the perceived utility of librarian peer-review by librarians and authors.
    METHODS: We used a mixed method approach, conducting a qualitative analysis of reviewer reports, author replies and editors' decisions of submissions to the International Journal of Health Governance. Our content analysis categorized 16 thematic areas, so that methodological and subject peer-reviewers' comments, decisions and rejection rates could be compared. Categories were based on the standard areas covered in peer-review (e.g., title, originality, etc.) as well as additional in-depth categories relating to the methodology (e.g., search strategy, reporting guidelines, etc.). We developed and used criteria to judge reviewers' perspectives and code their comments. We conducted two online multiple-choice surveys which were qualitatively analyzed: one of methodological peer-reviewers' perceptions of peer-reviewing, the other of published authors' views on the suggested revisions.
    RESULTS: Methodological peer-reviewers assessed 13 literature reviews submitted between September 2020 and March 2023. 55 reviewer reports were collected: 25 from methodological peer-reviewers, 30 from subject peer-reviewers (mean: 4.2 reviews per manuscript). Methodological peer-reviewers made more comments on methodologies, with authors more likely to implement their changes (52 of 65 changes, vs. 51 of 82 by subject peer-reviewers); they were also more likely to reject submissions (seven vs. four times, respectively). Where there were differences in recommendations to editors, journal editors were more likely to follow methodological peer-reviewers (nine vs. three times, respectively). The survey of published authors (87.5% response rate) revealed four of seven found comments on methodologies helpful. Librarians' survey responses (66.5% response rate) revealed those who conducted peer-reviews felt they improved quality of publications.
    CONCLUSIONS: Librarians can enhance evidence synthesis publications by ensuring methodologies have been conducted and reported appropriately. Their recommendations helped authors revise submissions and facilitated editorial decision-making. Further research could determine if sharing reviews with subject peer-reviewers and journal editors could benefit them in better understanding of evidence synthesis methodologies.
    Keywords:  Evidence synthesis; Health science librarians; Information specialists; Methodological peer-reviewers; Segmented peer-review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s41073-023-00142-4
  9. World J Methodol. 2023 Dec 20. 13(5): 390-398
      Evidence-based literature reviews play a vital role in contemporary research, facilitating the synthesis of knowledge from multiple sources to inform decision-making and scientific advancements. Within this framework, de-duplication emerges as a part of the process for ensuring the integrity and reliability of evidence extraction. This opinion review delves into the evolution of de-duplication, highlights its importance in evidence synthesis, explores various de-duplication methods, discusses evolving technologies, and proposes best practices. By addressing ethical considerations this paper emphasizes the significance of de-duplication as a cornerstone for quality in evidence-based literature reviews.
    Keywords:  Artificial intelligence; Bibliographic; Databases; De-duplication; Duplicate publications as topic; Duplicate references; Reference management software; Review literature as topic; Systematic reviews as topic
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5662/wjm.v13.i5.390
  10. Syst Rev. 2024 Jan 17. 13(1): 32
      With the accelerating growth of the academic corpus, doubling every 9 years, machine learning is a promising avenue to make systematic review manageable. Though several notable advancements have already been made, the incorporation of machine learning is less than optimal, still relying on a sequential, staged process designed to accommodate a purely human approach, exemplified by PRISMA. Here, we test a spiral, alternating or oscillating approach, where full-text screening is done intermittently with title/abstract screening, which we examine in three datasets by simulation under 360 conditions comprised of different algorithmic classifiers, feature extractions, prioritization rules, data types, and information provided (e.g., title/abstract, full-text included). Overwhelmingly, the results favored a spiral processing approach with logistic regression, TF-IDF for vectorization, and maximum probability for prioritization. Results demonstrate up to a 90% improvement over traditional machine learning methodologies, especially for databases with fewer eligible articles. With these advancements, the screening component of most systematic reviews should remain functionally achievable for another one to two decades.
    Keywords:  Active learning; Machine learning; Systematic review; Technology-assisted review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02421-z
  11. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2024 Jan 12. pii: S0885-3924(24)00008-3. [Epub ahead of print]
       CONTEXT: Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot platforms are increasingly used by patients as sources of information. However, there is limited data on the performance of these platforms, especially regarding palliative care terms.
    OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the accuracy, comprehensiveness, reliability, and readability of three AI platforms in defining and differentiating "palliative care," "supportive care," and "hospice care."
    METHODS: We asked ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing Chat, Google Bard to define and differentiate "palliative care," "supportive care," and "hospice care" and provide three references. Outputs were randomized and assessed by six blinded palliative care physicians using 0-10 scales (10 = best) for accuracy, comprehensiveness, and reliability. Readability was assessed using Flesch Kincaid Grade Level and Flesch Reading Ease scores.
    RESULTS: The mean (SD) accuracy scores for ChatGPT, Bard, and Bing Chat were 9.1 (1.3), 8.7 (1.5), and 8.2 (1.7), respectively; for comprehensiveness, the scores for the three platforms were 8.7 (1.5), 8.1 (1.9), and 5.6 (2.0), respectively; for reliability, the scores were 6.3 (2.5), 3.2 (3.1), and 7.1 (2.4), respectively. Despite generally high accuracy, we identified some major errors (e.g., Bard stated that supportive care had "the goal of prolonging life or even achieving a cure"). We found several major omissions, particularly with Bing Chat (e.g., no mention of interdisciplinary teams in palliative care or hospice care). References were often unreliable. Readability scores did not meet recommended levels for patient educational materials.
    CONCLUSION: We identified important concerns regarding the accuracy, comprehensiveness, reliability, and readability of outputs from AI platforms. Further research is needed to improve their performance.
    Keywords:  Artificial intelligence; definitions; hospice care; palliative care; supportive care
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2024.01.008
  12. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2024 Jan 16.
      Chat-GPT, a natural language processing (NLP) tool created by Open-AI, can potentially be used as a quick source for obtaining information related to prostate cancer. This study aims to analyze the quality and appropriateness of Chat-GPT's responses to inquiries related to prostate cancer compared to those of the European Urology Association's (EAU) 2023 prostate cancer guidelines. Overall, 195 questions were prepared according to the recommendations gathered in the prostate cancer section of the EAU 2023 Guideline. All questions were systematically presented to Chat-GPT's August 3 Version, and two expert urologists independently assessed and assigned scores ranging from 1 to 4 to each response (1: completely correct, 2: correct but inadequate, 3: a mix of correct and misleading information, and 4: completely incorrect). Sub-analysis per chapter and per grade of recommendation were performed. Overall, 195 recommendations were evaluated. Overall, 50/195 (26%) were completely correct, 51/195 (26%) correct but inadequate, 47/195 (24%) a mix of correct and misleading and 47/195 (24%) incorrect. When looking at different chapters Open AI was particularly accurate in answering questions on follow-up and QoL. Worst performance was recorded for the diagnosis and treatment chapters with respectively 19% and 30% of the answers completely incorrect. When looking at the strength of recommendation, no differences in terms of accuracy were recorded when comparing weak and strong recommendations (p > 0,05). Chat-GPT has a poor accuracy when answering questions on the PCa EAU guidelines recommendations. Future studies should assess its performance after adequate training.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-024-00789-0
  13. J Clin Sleep Med. 2024 Jan 13.
       STUDY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the accuracy of ChatGPT in addressing insomnia-related queries for patient education. To further assess ChatGPT's ability to provide varies responses based on differinf prompting scenarios.
    METHODS: Four identical sets of 20 insomnia-related queries were posed to ChatGPT. Each set differed by the context in which ChatGPT was prompted: no prompt, patient-centered, physician-centered, and with references and statistics. Responses were reviewed by two academic sleep surgeons, one academic sleep medicine physician, and two sleep medicine fellows across four domains: clinical accuracy, prompt adherence, referencing, and statistical precision, using a binary grading system. Flesch-Kincaid Grade-Level (FK) scores were calculated to estimate the grade level of the responses, with statistical differences between prompts analyzed via ANOVA and Tukey's test. Inter-rater reliability was calculated using a Fleiss's Kappa.
    RESULTS: The study revealed significant variations in the Flesch-Kincaid (FK) grade-level scores across four prompts: unprompted (13.2 ± 2.2), patient-centered (8.1 ± 1.9), physician-centered (15.4 ± 2.8), and with references and statistics (17.3 ± 2.3, p<0.001). Despite poor Fleiss Kappa scores, indicating low inter-rater reliability for clinical accuracy and relevance, all evaluators agreed that majority of ChatGPT's responses were clinically accurate, with the highest variability on Form 4. The responses were also uniformly relevant to the given prompts (100% agreement). 80% of the references ChatGPT cited were verified as both real and relevant, and only 25% of cited statistics were corroborated within referenced articles.
    CONCLUSIONS: ChatGPT can be used to generate clinically accurate responses to insomnia-related inquiries.
    Keywords:  ChatGPT; artificial intelligence; insomnia
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.10948
  14. J Robot Surg. 2024 Jan 17. 18(1): 41
      Online health resources are important for patients seeking perioperative information on robotic cardiac and thoracic surgery. The value of the resources depends on their readability, accuracy, content, quality, and suitability for patient use. We systematically assess current online health information on robotic cardiac and thoracic surgery. Systematic online searches were performed to identify websites discussing robotic cardiac and thoracic surgery. For each website, readability was measured by nine standardized tests, and accuracy and content were assessed by an independent panel of two robotic cardiothoracic surgeons. Quality and suitability of websites were evaluated using the DISCERN and Suitability Assessment of Materials tools, respectively. A total of 220 websites (120 cardiac, and 100 thoracic) were evaluated. Both robotic cardiac and thoracic surgery websites were very difficult to read with mean readability scores of 13.8 and 14.0 (p = 0.97), respectively, requiring at least 13 years of education to be comprehended. Both robotic cardiac and thoracic surgery websites had similar accuracy, amount of content, quality, and suitability (p > 0.05). On multivariable regression, academic websites [Exp (B)], 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.60-3.16; P < 0.001), and websites with higher amount of content [Exp (B)],1.73; 95% CI, 1.24-2.41; P < 0.001) were associated with higher accuracy. There was no association between readability of websites and accuracy [Exp (B)], 1.04; 95% CI, 0.90-1.21; P = 0.57). Online information on robotic cardiac and thoracic surgery websites overestimate patients' understanding and require at least 13 years of education to be comprehended. As website accuracy is not associated with ease of reading, the readability of online resources can be improved without compromising accuracy.
    Keywords:  Cardiac surgery; Online information; Patient education; Robotic surgery; Thoracic surgery
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11701-023-01794-6
  15. World J Methodol. 2023 Dec 20. 13(5): 439-445
       BACKGROUND: Hand in hand with technological advancements, treatment modalities continue to grow. With the turn of the century, the internet has become the number one source of information for almost every topic. Thus, many patients look toward the internet as their primary source of information to learn about their respective medical conditions. The American Medical Association and National Institute of Health strongly recommend that online medical information be written at the 6th to 8th-grade level to aid comprehension by patients of all literacy backgrounds.
    AIM: To assess the readability of online information regarding Jones fracture. Our hypothesis is that the reading level of medical information published on websites far exceeds the recommended reading level of 6th-8th grade as proposed by the American Medical Associate and National Institute of Health. The result of this study can help us formulate improved recommendations for publishing more comprehensible material and, thus, eventually improve patient compliance and clinical outcomes.
    METHODS: The exact phrase "Jones fracture" was queried on the three most common search engines, Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, on December 28, 2022. As of December 2022, Google held 84%, Bing held 9%, and Yahoo! held 2% of the worldwide search engine market share. Web pages uniform resource locator from the first three pages of search results were recorded from each search engine. These web pages were classified according to academic, physician-sponsored, governmental and non-government organizations (NGO), commercial, and unspecified as per formally defined categories. Websites associated with an educational institution or medical organization were classified as academic. Websites with products for sale, corporate sponsorship, or advertisements were classified as commercial. Governmental websites or NGOs comprised those that received government subsidies or grants. Webpages that were independently owned by physicians or physician groups were respectively classed as physician sponsored. The remainder of websites that did not fall under the above categories were classified as unspecified.
    RESULTS: A total of 93 websites were analyzed for reading assessment. A whopping 44% of websites were commercial, followed by 22% of physician-sponsored websites. Third place belonged to non-government organization websites holding a 15% share. The academic website held a meager 9% portion, while unspecified sites were 3%. The table illustrates mean readability scores, along with average cumulative grade level. The average grade level was 10.95 ± 2.28 for all websites, with a range of 6.18 to 18.90. Since P values were more than 0.05, there was not a significant statistical difference between the first page results and the results of all pages. Thus, we can rationalize that readability scores are consistent throughout all pages of a website.
    CONCLUSION: Hand in hand with technological advancements, treatment modalities continue to grow. With the turn of the century, the internet has become the number one source of information for almost every topic. Thus, many patients look towards the internet as the primary source of information to learn about their respective medical conditions. Our study demonstrates that current online medical information regarding Jones fracture is written at an extraordinarily high-grade level, with an average grade level of all websites at 10.95, nearly an 10th-grade educational level. The American Medical Association and National Institute of Health strongly recommend that online medical information should be written at the 6th to 8th-grade level to aid comprehension by patients of all literacy backgrounds. On the contrary, most of the medical information evaluated was at an 10th-grade level, which far exceeds recommendations by AMA and NIH. This is particularly relevant because readability scores are directly proportional to the level of comprehension attained by readers, thus directly impacting patient outcomes. In conclusion, we suggest and encourage that all online reading materials should be re-written at the 6th to 8th-grade level in a public service effort to increase compliance with treatment goals and raise awareness of preventive measures.
    Keywords:  Jones fracture; Jones fracture location; Jones fracture management; Jones fracture prevention; Jones fracture treatment; Jones fracture types
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5662/wjm.v13.i5.439
  16. Ital J Pediatr. 2024 Jan 18. 50(1): 8
       BACKGROUND: Breath holding spells (BHS) are an important non-epileptic condition that is common in childhood and causes concern to families. YouTube is a powerful social media tool for accessing diseases and information such as BHS in child health. The aim of the study was to measure of the quality and reliability levels of the videos published in English on BHS uploaded on YouTube.
    METHODS: The key words "infant", "cry", "breath holding spells", holding spells" and "breath spells" were searched on the YouTube on November 14, 2022, in this study. Along with the general features of the videos, their quality and reliability were evaluated according to the global quality score (GQS), mDISCERN score.
    RESULTS: Fifty-five videos were evaluated. The mDISCERN and GQS scores of the videos in the useful group were higher than those in the misleading group (p < 0.001, p < 0.001). In the useful group, 87.5% of academic institutions and 93.3% of medical doctors (MDs) uploaded high-score GQS videos, while this rate was 16.7% in independent users (p = 0.005). The positive correlation was found between mDISCERN and GQS scores (p < 0.001).
    CONCLUSION: The majority of YouTube videos on BHS contained useful information with sufficient quality. Professional associations such as universities and academic institutes need to produce better quality videos to provide families/users with more accurate and up-to-date information about BHS. We emphasize that YouTube should analyse videos published in the field of health, especially in the field of pediatrics, such as BHS, with committees consisting of expert health professionals, and publish them after evaluation. YouTube should consider collaborating with professional pediatrics health organizations such as American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), academic institutes and universities in the field of BHS to produce high-quality videos.
    Keywords:  Breath holding spells; Children; Cry; Infant; YouTube
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-023-01570-0
  17. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Jan 18. e30865
       PURPOSE: This study undertook a systematic examination of YouTube videos about chemotherapy for pediatric patients, with a primary focus on assessing the videos' quality, content, and reliability.
    METHOD: The research was conducted by searching YouTube using the keywords "chemotherapy for children" and "chemotherapy for pediatric," employing filters for "worldwide" and "all categories." The top 100 videos, based on popularity, were selected for evaluation according to the power analysis calculation. Two independent experts in pediatric oncology reviewed these videos. Video characteristics were recorded: length, view count, likes, dislikes, view ratio, and video-like ratio. The Video Power Index was calculated to measure video popularity. The modified DISCERN and Global Quality Scale (GQS) assessed the videos for quality and reliability.
    RESULTS: The 100 videos were analyzed. Official health institutions uploaded 54%, while independent users contributed 46%. Independent user uploads garnered significantly more views than official health institutions (p = .006). The number of likes, view ratio, and Video Power Index of independent users' videos were significantly higher than official health institutions' videos (respectively, p = .007, .007, and .008). On the other hand, the modified DISCERN score and GQS were significantly higher in YouTube videos of official health institutions than in independent users (p < .001). A strong correlation was observed between the modified DISCERN score and GQS (r = .879, p < .001).
    CONCLUSION: This study provides valuable insights into the YouTube videos on pediatric chemotherapy, emphasizing the need to improve the quality and reliability of online health information for this vulnerable population.
    Keywords:  YouTube videos; chemotherapy; content analysis; pediatric oncology; quality
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.30865
  18. J Voice. 2024 Jan 12. pii: S0892-1997(23)00414-9. [Epub ahead of print]
       OBJECTIVES: Social media plays an ever-growing part in modern life and is a frequent source of health information for patients. Singers are particularly likely to receive health information solely from fellow musicians and may experience barriers to seeking vocal healthcare. However, there have been no studies to date evaluating vocal health information on social media. Our study aimed to assess the quality, reliability, and accuracy of vocal health content on TikTok.
    STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis.
    METHODS: Three searches were carried out on Tiktok, using the terms "vocal health," "vocal injury," and "voice tips." The top 50 videos in each category were cataloged for extraction of data and for analysis on three discrete scales. Two independent reviewers rated each video using the Global Quality Scale (GQS), modified DISCERN scale, and Accuracy in Digital-health Instrument (ANDI).
    RESULTS: After the removal of duplicates and unavailable content, 146 videos were analyzed. The mean (range) length was 59.8 seconds (5-239), and number of views per video was 886,265 (432-36,700,000). The vast majority of videos (94.5%) were created by non-clinicians; only two videos (1.37%) were posted by otolaryngologists. The mean (SD) GQS score was 2.34 (0.75) out of a maximum of five, the DISCERN score was 0.97 (0.56) out of five, and the ANDI score was 2.85 (0.87) out of four. Video length was positively correlated with GQS and DISCERN scores, but views, likes, and shares were either not associated or negatively associated with GQS, DISCERN, and ANDI.
    CONCLUSIONS: Most videos were of low quality and reliability and moderate accuracy. Measures of popularity were either uncorrelated or negatively correlated with quality, reliability, and accuracy, suggesting that TikTok users are more likely to engage with lower-quality content online. This implies a potential role for vocal health professionals to fill a crucial gap with reliable information on social media.
    Keywords:  Social media; Vocal health; Vocal injury
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.12.022
  19. Digit Health. 2024 Jan-Dec;10:10 20552076231224594
       Background: Video platform is an important approach for individuals to access and adopt health information. Online information on gluten-free diet (GFD) videos remains underinvestigated.
    Methods: GFD videos were identified by hashtag-based searching strategy. Videos' basic information, engagement metrics, and content were recorded. Mann-Kendall test was performed to examine time trends of submitting videos and engagement metrics. Video quality was evaluated by the DISCERN instrument and the HONcode.
    Results: A total of 822 videos were included in the analysis, with the majority focusing on gluten-free food recipes. The number of videos related to GFD was showing an upward trend. Engagement metrics varied between platforms and video types, with non-recipe videos receiving higher user engagement. The average DISCERN score was 50.20 out of 80 and the average HONcode score was 1.93 out of 8. Videos submitted by health professionals demonstrated better quality compared to those submitted by patients or general users.
    Conclusion: There was a rise in the number of videos related to GFD on Chinese video platforms. The overall quality of these videos was poor, most of them were not rigorous enough. Highlighting using social media as a health information source has the potential risk of disseminating one-sided messages and misleading. Efforts should be made to enhance the transparency of advertisements and establish clear guidelines for information sharing on social media platforms.
    Keywords:  Gluten-free; gluten-free diet; infodemiology; medical information; social media
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076231224594
  20. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2023 ;2023 599-607
      Biomedical ontologies are a key component in many systems for the analysis of textual clinical data. They are employed to organize information about a certain domain relying on a hierarchy of different classes. Each class maps a concept to items in a terminology developed by domain experts. These mappings are then leveraged to organize the information extracted by Natural Language Processing (NLP) models to build knowledge graphs for inferences. The creation of these associations, however, requires extensive manual review. In this paper, we present an automated approach and repeatable framework to learn a mapping between ontology classes and terminology terms derived from vocabularies in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) metathesaurus. According to our evaluation, the proposed system achieves a performance close to humans and provides a substantial improvement over existing systems developed by the National Library of Medicine to assist researchers through this process.
  21. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2023 ;2023 369-378
      Search for information is now an integral part of healthcare. Searches are enabled by search engines whose objective is to efficiently retrieve the relevant information for the user query. When it comes to retrieving biomedical text and literature, Essie search engine developed at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) performs exceptionally well. However, Essie is a software system developed for NLM that has ceased development and support. On the other hand, Solr is a popular opensource enterprise search engine used by many of the world's largest internet sites, offering continuous developments and improvements along with the state-of-the-art features. In this paper, we present our approach to porting the key features of Essie and developing custom components to be used in Solr. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the added components on three benchmark biomedical datasets. The custom components may aid the community in improving search methods for biomedical text retrieval.
  22. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Jan 17. 24(1): 93
       BACKGROUND: Australian preventive health strategy outlines the importance of preconception health in improving health in the community, across multiple generations and places primary and community healthcare services as a central pillar to effective preconception care. However, there is no national implementation plan to see preconception care proactively offered in healthcare settings in Australia. Instead, there is evidence that most women search the internet for information about pregnancy planning and preparation. In response, this study explores the availability and characteristics of health services found by searching for preconception care online in Australia.
    METHOD: Simulated Google searches were conducted using search terms 'preconception' and the name of a city/town with a population > 50,000. Related terms, 'fertility' and 'pregnancy' were also searched. Characteristics of the health services and the information available on relevant websites were extracted and reported descriptively.
    RESULTS: The searches identified 831 website links, including 430 websites for health services. The health services were most often located in cities/towns with populations equal to or less than 200 000 (54.2%), and housing multiple health professionals (69.8%) including a specialist doctor (66.5%), nurse (20.9%), psychologist/counsellor (2.0%) and/or naturopath (13.0%). All the health services identified online explicitly mentioned women among their target populations, while 69.1% (n = 297) also referred to providing services for men or partners. More than one third of websites included blogs (36.9%) while external links were included in 10.8% of the online sites.
    CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a preliminary examination of health services that may be found through internet-based searching by Australian consumers seeking health advice or support prior to becoming pregnant. Our descriptive results suggest couples may find a variety of health professionals when seeking health services for preconception care. Future research involving co-design of search terms with consumers, ongoing monitoring of health services and ensuring access to meaningful, and accurate information found through internet-searching are all necessary to ensure people of reproductive age are able to access the preconception health information and care they need.
    Keywords:  Health literacy; Health services; Healthcare access; Preconception care
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10559-2
  23. Am J Health Promot. 2024 Jan 13. 8901171241227302
       PURPOSE: To examine the relationships among health literacy, risk perceptions, COVID-19 information overload, health information seeking, and race/ethnicity.
    DESIGN: A cross-sectional non-probability community survey conducted between December 2020 and January 2021. A questionnaire was developed in collaboration with a local minority health task force.
    SETTING: Albany, New York, USA.
    SAMPLE: 331 adults residing in Albany, NY and neighboring areas (80.3% completion rate).
    MEASURES: Multi-item scales were used to measure health literacy, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, information overload, and health information seeking frequency and types.
    ANALYSIS: We conducted multivariate regression analysis.
    RESULTS: Health literacy (standardized β = -.33, P < .001) and perceived severity (β = -.23, P < .001) were negatively associated with information overload. Information overload was negatively associated with health information seeking frequency (β = -.16, P < .05) and types (β = -.19, P < .01). A further analysis shows several factors, including information overload and race (African Americans), were negatively related to seeking specific types of information.
    CONCLUSION: We find that low health literacy and perceived severity contribute to information overload and that information overload adversely affects health information seeking. Black individuals are less likely to search for certain types of information. The cross-sectional study design limits our ability to determine causality. Future research should employ panel data to determine the directionality of the observed relationships.
    Keywords:  COVID-19; Information overload; health literacy; information seeking; risk perceptions
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171241227302