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The aim of the project was to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a CD-ROM-based multimedia program as a tool to increase user's knowledge about the differences between "normal" forgetfulness and more serious memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease.

As the Internet continues to grow as a delivery medium for health information, the design of effective Web sites becomes increasingly important. In this paper, the authors provide an overview of one effective model for Web site design, a user-centered process that includes techniques for needs assessment, goal/task analysis, user interface design, and rapid prototyping. They detail how this approach was employed to design a family health history Web site [...]

During the 2001 AMIA Annual Symposium, the Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Emergency Medicine Working Group hosted the Roundtable on Bioterrorism Detection. Sixty-four people attended the roundtable discussion, during which several researchers discussed public health surveillance systems designed to enhance early detection of bioterrorism events. These systems make secondary use of existing clinical, laboratory, paramedical, and pharmacy data or facilitate electronic case reporting by clinicians. This paper combines case reports of [...]

Consenting visitors to a health survey Web site were randomly assigned to a "matrix" presentation or an "expanded" presentation of survey response options. Among 4,208 visitors to the site over 3 months, 1,615 (38 percent) participated by giving consent and completing the survey. During a pre-trial period, when consent was not required, 914 of 1,667 visitors (55 percent) participated (odds ratio 1.9, P<0.0001). Mean response times were 5.07 minutes for the matrix format and 5.22 minutes for the expanded format (P=0.16). Neither health status scores nor alpha reliability coefficients were substantially influenced by the survey format, but health status scores varied with age and gender as expected from U.S. population norms. In conclusion, presenting response options in a matrix format may not substantially speed survey completion. This study demonstrates a method for rapidly evaluating interface design alternatives using anonymous Web volunteers who have provided informed consent.

Abstract Public health is a complex discipline that has contributed substantially to improving the health of the population. Public health action involves a variety of interventions and methods, many of which are now taken for granted by the general public. The specific focus and nature of public health interventions continue to evolve, but the fundamental principles of public health remain stable. These principles include a focus on the health of [...]

In September 2000, the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research and the American Academy of Pediatrics Center for Child Health Research sponsored a meeting of experts and knowledgeable stakeholders to identify 1) the special information needs of pediatric care and 2) health service research questions related to the use of information technology in children's health care. Technologies that support the care of children must address issues related to growth and [...]

Planning the clinical evaluation of a computerized decision support system requires a strategy that encompasses the different aspects of the clinical problem, the technical difficulties of software and hardware integration and implementation, the behavioral aspects of the targeted users, and the discipline of study design. Although clinical information systems are becoming more widely available, only a few decision support systems have been formally evaluated in clinical environments. Published accounts of [...]