Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Computers, Handheld”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Momentary time sampling as an estimate of percentage time: A field validation.

This study examined the percentage time estimates of momentary time sampling against the real time obtained with handheld computers in a natural setting. Twenty-two concurrent observations were conducted in elementary schools by one observer who used 15-s momentary time sampling and a second who used a handheld computer. Results for the six behaviors showed a close correspondence between the momentary time sampling percentage observation intervals and the real time percentage observation time, although 15-s momentary time sampling tended not to sample low-frequency short-duration behaviors. The results confirmed laboratory findings that short-interval momentary time sampling estimates percentage time accurately for a wide range of behavior frequencies and durations, and suggested that observers using momentary time sampling in a natural setting are able to obtain accurate data.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Quantification of spontaneous locomotion activity in foals kept in pastures under various management conditions.

OBJECTIVE: To describe spontaneous locomotion activity of foals kept under various management conditions and assess the suitability of global positioning system (GPS) technology for recording foal activity. Animals-59 foals. PROCEDURES: During the foals' first 4 months of life, 921 observation periods (15 minutes each) were collected and analyzed for locomotion activities. The GPS system was evaluated by simultaneously carrying out field observations with a handheld computer. RESULTS: Foals spent 0.5% of total observed time cantering, 0.2% trotting, 10.7% walking, 32.0% grazing, 34.8% standing, and 21.6% lying down. Total observed daytime workload (velocity x distance) in the first month was approximately twice that in the following months. Locomotion activity decreased with increasing age. Colts had more activity than fillies in certain periods, and foals that were stabled for some portion of the day had compensatory locomotion activity, which was probably insufficient to reach the level of foals kept continually outside. The GPS recordings and handheld-computer observations were strongly correlated for canter, trot, and walk and moderately correlated for standing and lying. Correlation for grazing was low. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicated that domestically managed foals, when kept 24 h/d at pasture, will exercise at a level comparable with feral foals. High workload during the first month of life might be important for conditioning the musculoskeletal system. The GPS technique accurately quantified canter, trot, and walk activities; less accurately indexed resting; and was unsuitable for grazing because of the wide array of velocities used while foraging.

Aging↗
PubMed2005

Short report: Piloting paperless data entry for clinical research in Africa.

Direct data entry, using handheld computers, may simplify and streamline data management, especially in remote settings. We compared the accuracy of data entry using the current standard practice (a paper-based case report form with double data entry) with that using a personal digital assistant (PDA) in a clinical study in rural Gabon. The rate of discrepant entries was 1.7%. Categorical data (presented in "pull down" menus on the PDA) were more commonly discrepant than were continuous "typed in" data (2.4% versus 1.2%; P = 0.001). Both systems functioned smoothly and no data were lost. The clinicians involved in this study preferred the handheld computers, and their use will be considered in future studies in an African clinical research network.

Africa↗
PubMed1999

User satisfaction and frustration with a handheld, pen-based guideline implementation system for asthma.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate clinicians' satisfaction and frustrations with the use of a handheld computer system that implements a guideline for management of childhood asthma exacerbations. SETTING: Nine primary-care pediatric practices. DESIGN: Survey component of a randomized, prospective before-after trial. INTERVENTION: Newton MessagePad outfitted with custom software (called "AsthMonitor") that assists in documentation of clinical findings and provides guideline-based recommendations. RESULTS: Overall, 3 users gave strongly positive global ratings while 6 users were neutral. The majority used the documentation functions concurrently with care. Except for recommendations to administer oxygen (which were unsupported by evidence), users found the recommendations appropriate and appreciated the reminders. Seven of 9 participants believed it took more time to document with AsthMonitor. CONCLUSIONS: Handheld computers are acceptable to some office-based practitioners to provide guideline-based advice within the context of the clinical encounter.

Asthma↗
PubMed2004

High prevalence of mental disorders in primary care.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of common mental disorders in an adult primary care population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey in randomly selected subjects, using the PRIME-MD questionnaire. SETTING: Eighty-six general practices in Belgium. SUBJECTS: A total of 2316 randomly selected patients, aged 18 years or older and consulting their general practitioner for other than administrative reasons alone, with slightly more women (58.1%) than men (41.3%). MAIN OUTCOME RESULT: Prevalence rates of mental disorders most commonly seen in primary care practice (mood, anxiety, somatoform, eating and alcohol disorders). METHODS: To facilitate data collection and processing, the entire PRIME-MD questionnaire was programmed on a handheld computer. Patient answers and physician assessments were immediately electronically recorded during the interview. All investigators were trained on the use of the PRIME-MD. The recruitment period lasted 6 weeks: from 15 February to 25 March 1999, and patients were randomly selected for the interview based on a computerized procedure. RESULTS: Although only 5.4% of all patients consulted for a psychiatric reason, a threshold/subthreshold psychiatric disorder was detected in 42.5% of all patients. Most commonly detected disorders were mood disorders in 31.0% (major depressive disorder, 13.9% and dysthymia, 12.6%), anxiety disorders in 19.0% (generalized anxiety disorder, 10.3%), somatoform disorders in 18.0% and probable alcohol abuse/dependence in 10.1%. The results also showed the important rate of comorbidity between these disorders. CONCLUSION: The present study confirms the high prevalence of mental disorders in a general practice setting, and their frequent association. Prevalence rates of our study are even higher than those obtained in previously conducted trials. Our study also demonstrates the utility of the PRIME-MD as a screening tool for mental disorders in primary care. In addition the use of the handheld computer software version of the PRIME-MD allowed us to screen for mental disorders in patients who are unable to attend the GP office and are seen during 'home' visits.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Respiratory care billing using a personal digital assistant.

In 2003 I reported how my respiratory care department at Tufts-New England Medical Center developed an inexpensive, in-house, computerized clinical-information-management system, in which the respiratory therapists carry handheld computers during their rounds, entering clinical information into the handhelds as they work and later downloading that information to a database in a desktop computer. Now we have added a billing module to our customized software. This article describes the design, use, and attributes of this billing system, including improved charge-capture, which increased department revenue substantially. Our system has several other important advantages over traditional billing systems.

Computers, Handheld↗
PubMed2005

Accurate data collection for head injury monitoring studies: a data validation methodology.

BACKGROUND: BrainIT is a multi centre, European project, to collect high quality continuous data from severely head injured patients using a previously defined [6] core data set. This includes minute-by-minute physiological data and simultaneous treatment and management information. It is crucial that the data is correctly collected and validated. METHODS: Minute-by-minute physiological monitoring data is collected from the bedside monitors. Demographic and clinical information, intensive care management and secondary insult management data, are collected using a handheld computer. Data is transferred from the handheld device to a local computer where it is reviewed and anonymised before being sent electronically, with the physiological data, to the central database in Glasgow. Automated computer tools highlight missing or ambiguous data. A request is then sent to the contributing centre where the data is amended and returned to Glasgow. Of the required data elements 20% are randomly selected for validation against original documentation along with the actual number of specific episodic events during a known period. This will determine accuracy and the percentage of missing data for each record. CONCLUSION: Advances in patient care require an improved evidence base. For accurate, consistent and repeatable data collection, robust mechanisms are required which should enhance the reliability of clinical trials, assessment of management protocols and equipment evaluations.

Brain Injuries↗
PubMed2003

Using mobile information technology to build a database for anesthesia quality control and to provide clinical guidelines.

The paper describes a mobile information system to collect patient information for anaesthesia quality control. In this system we use handheld computers, to collect patient data at the bedside with a daily synchronization of the data of the anaesthesiologist's handheld with the anaesthesia database center, later used for quality control analysis. Further, we design mobile clinical guidelines to be used on the same handhelds.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed2003

Web-based PDA downloads for clinical practice guidelines and decision support tools.

The extraordinary volume of health-related information made available on the Internet comes at a high cost for effectively storing and accessing clinical information resources. Additionally, the ability to use critical patient care information is limited to the availability of computer access. Physicians and other health care professionals have readily adopted personal digital assistants (PDAs), also known as handheld computers, because the devices provide succinct critical patient care information at the point of need. Clinical practice guidelines available through the Internet for use with PDAs present health professionals, who have little time, with powerful information already formatted for point-of-care devices. This paper will review several strategies for finding and accessing point-of-care clinical information.

Computers, Handheld↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The N-CODES project: the first year.

Clinical decision making is a complex task, and particularly challenging for the novice nurse. Little assistance is available, and decision supports such as standardized guidelines are difficult to access in the hectic flow of practice. The Nursing Computer Decision Support (N-CODES) project, directed by investigators for nursing and computer engineering, addresses this problem by developing a prototype of a point-of-care system to deliver clinical knowledge via a handheld computer. This article reports on the progress made during the first year of the project. The nursing investigators have developed a novice-nurse decision-making model, a comprehensive knowledge development process, and a series of computerized practice maps. The focus of engineering has been on designing the database architecture and the knowledge representation, extraction, and discovery algorithms used to mimic nursing knowledge and clinical decision processes in software. But the success of an interdisciplinary collaborative project depends on establishing tasks and boundaries, clarifying perspectives and language, and developing a productive process. Therefore, along with the progress of each discipline, strategies used to promote collaboration are discussed.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2003

Wireless and PDA: a novel strategy to access DICOM-compliant medical data on mobile devices.

The medical procedures at the patient bedside are out of the scope of current HIS/RIS systems, which means that patient record and image data access during the medical visit or the execution, recording and confirmation of the medicine prescriptions, still do not enjoy computerized support. As a consequence, the necessary inclusion of new data to the patient record, still needs to be carried out through notations on paper and later typed, causes delays on the availability of this information (Mobile computing in a hospital: the Ward-In-Hand project. SAC 2000-ACM Symposium on Applied Computing, Março, 2000, Villa Olmo, Como, Italy). This paper presents a software technology where the medical and nursing staff will be equipped with a handheld computer connected by radio to a central server that provides access to the electronic patient records and that will actively inform about tasks pending distribution. The server acts as a database for multimodal electronic patient record information, storing patient data from computerized tomography (CT), ultrasonography (US), magnetic resonance (MRI) images and also medical findings, observations and prescriptions coded as DICOM Structured Reports (Digital Image and Communications in Medicine). The prototype described in this article implements a medical images and structured reports server that makes the search and recovery of data stored in the DICOM standard possible.

Brazil↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The PDA as a reference tool: libraries' role in enhancing nursing education.

"The PDA as a Reference Tool: The Libraries' Role in Enhancing Nursing Education" is a pilot project funded by the University of Massachusetts President's Office Information Technology Council through their Professional Development Grant program in 2004. The project's goal is to offer faculty and students in nursing programs at two University of Massachusetts campuses access to an array of medical reference information, such as handbooks, dictionaries, calculators, and diagnostic tools, on small handheld computers called personal digital assistants. Through exposure to the variety of information resources in this digital format, participants can discover and explore these resources at no personal financial cost. Participants borrow handhelds from the University Library's circulation desks. The libraries provide support in routine resynchronizing of handhelds to update information. This report will discuss how the projects were administered, what we learned about what did and did not work, the problems and solutions, and where we hope to go from here.

Advertising↗
PubMed2006

Comparing observational software with paper and pencil for time-sampled data: a field test of Interval Manager (INTMAN).

In this article, we describe the Interval Manager (INTMAN) software system for collecting time-sampled observational data and present a preliminary application comparing the program with a traditional paper-and-pencil method. INTMAN is a computer-assisted alternative to traditional paper-and-pencil methods for collecting fixed interval time-sampled observational data. The INTMAN data collection software runs on Pocket PC handheld computers and includes a desktop application for Microsoft Windows that is used for data analysis. Standard analysis options include modified frequencies, percent of intervals, conditional probabilities, and kappa agreement matrices and values. INTMAN and a standardized paper-and-pencil method were compared under identical conditions on five dimensions: setup time, duration of data entry, duration of interobserver agreement calculations, accuracy, and cost. Overall, the computer-assisted program was a more efficient and accurate data collection system for time-sampled data than the traditional method.

Behavioral Research↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Use of personal digital assistants for retrieval of medical images and data on high-resolution flat panel displays.

For its new acute care hospital, the University of California at Los Angeles is evaluating innovative technology involving high-resolution flat panel display devices configured as "network appliances" that can be wall mounted for use in the retrieval and display of medical images and data. Physicians and healthcare providers can log on with wireless handheld computers, which can serve as an identification device as well as a navigational tool for selecting patient records and data. These data are displayed and manipulated on the flat panel display without the need for a keyboard or mouse. A prototype was developed with commercially available image display software, which was modified to allow the remote control of software functions from a handheld device through an infrared communication port. The system also allows navigation through the patient data in a World Wide Web-based electronic patient record. This prototype illustrates the evolution of radiologic facilities toward "shareable" high-quality display devices that allow more convenient and cost-effective access to medical images and related data in complex clinical environments, resulting in a paradigm shift in data navigation and accessibility.

Computers, Handheld↗
PubMed1986

Programmable calculator software for computation of the plasma binding of ligands.

The computation of the extent of plasma binding of a ligand to plasma constituents using radiolabeled ligand and equilibrium dialysis is complex and tedious. A computer program for the HP-41C Handheld Computer Series (Hewlett-Packard) was developed to perform these calculations. The first segment of the program constructs a standard curve for quench correction of post-dialysis plasma and buffer samples, using either external standard ratio (ESR) or sample channels ratio (SCR) techniques. The remainder of the program uses the counts per minute, SCR or ESR, and post-dialysis volume of paired plasma and buffer samples generated from the dialysis procedure to compute the extent of binding after correction for background radiation, counting efficiency, and intradialytic shifts of fluid between plasma and buffer compartments during dialysis. This program greatly simplifies the analysis of equilibrium dialysis data and has been employed in the analysis of dexamethasone binding in normal and uremic sera.

Buffers↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Development of ophthalmologic software for handheld devices].

INTRODUCTION: The formulas for calculation of intraocular lenses have evolved since the first theoretical formulas by Fyodorov. Among the second generation formulas, the SRK-I formula has a simple calculation, taking into account a calculation that only involved anteroposterior length, IOL constant and average keratometry. With the evolution of those formulas, complexicity increased making the reconfiguration of parameters in special situations impracticable. In this way the production and development of software for such a purpose, can help surgeons to recalculate those values if needed. PURPOSE: To idealize, develop and test a Brazilian software for calculation of IOL dioptric power for handheld computers. METHODS: For the development and programming of software for calculation of IOL, we used PocketC program (OrbWorks Concentrated Software, USA). We compared the results collected from a gold-standard device (Ultrascan/Alcon Labs) with the simulation of 100 fictitious patients, using the same IOL parameters. The results were grouped for ULTRASCAN data and SOFTWARE data. Using SRK/T formula the range of those parameters included a keratometry varying between 35 and 55D, axial length between 20 and 28 mm, IOL constants of 118.7, 118.3 and 115.8. RESULTS: Using Wilcoxon test, it was shown that the groups do not differ (p=0.314). We had a variation in the Ultrascan sample between 11.82 and 27.97. In the tested program sample the variation was practically similar (11.83-27.98). The average of the Ultrascan group was 20.93. The software group had a similar average. The standard deviation of the samples was also similar (4.53). CONCLUSION: The precision of IOL software for handheld devices was similar to that of the standard devices using the SRK/T formula. The software worked properly, was steady without bugs in tested models of operational system.

Computers, Handheld↗
PubMed2006

Pilot study of a web-based antibiotic decision management guide.

BACKGROUND: Use of electronic medical information resources by health-care professionals is increasing. Portable handheld computers have facilitated access to medical knowledge at the point of patient care. Little is known about the impact of mobile medical information tools on physician learning or improvement in decision-making. STUDY DESIGN: A 6-month prospective, randomized pilot study of 12 first-year trauma and critical care Fellows at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center was conducted from November 1, 2001 to May 31, 2002 at the University of Maryland. Six Fellows were randomized to use the Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Guide (JHABX) on the RIM Blackberry personal digital assistant (PDA) for 6 months of their clinical rotation. Six Fellows were randomized to the non-PDA-use arm. Three-month and 6-month examination raw scores on knowledge of infectious diseases management among Blackberry PDA users versus non-PDA users were obtained. Measurement of antibiotic decision accuracy by diagnosis at 3 and 6 months among Fellows randomized to use the JHABX on the RIM Blackberry PDA was also evaluated. RESULTS: PDA group demonstrated a considerable improvement in test scores over the 3-month time interval, compared with their baseline score (40.8 +/- 2.3 versus 34.3 +/- 4.6, p < 0.05) and compared with the non-PDA group (40.8 +/- 2.3 versus 36.8 +/- 3.3, p < 0.01). Improvement became even more notable at the 6-month interval again, compared with themselves (43.8 +/- 4.5 versus 34.3, p < 0.001) and the non-PDA group (43.8 +/- 4.5 versus 38.1 +/- 5.1, p < 0.001). There was no notable improvement in test scores at 3 months or 6 months in the control group. Overall antibiotic decision accuracy substantially improved from 66% during the initial 3-month period to 86.6% during the second 3-month period (p = 0.005) among users of the JHABX. This was most evident in respiratory, blood, and skin and soft tissue infections. CONCLUSIONS: Web-based handheld technology is highly effective for supplying information to support infectious disease clinical practice. In a hospital intensive care setting, results of this study demonstrate that resident physician knowledge and antibiotic decision selection accuracy improved among Fellows using the JHABX. Reasons for this difference can be multifold and not thoroughly evaluated from this small pilot study. Future studies on the impact of point-of-care technology on patient outcomes are warranted.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗