Background & objective Though blended learning (BL), is widely adopted in higher education, evaluating effectiveness of BL is difficult because the components of BL can be extremely heterogeneous. Purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of BL in improving knowledge and skill in pharmacy education. Methods PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify published literature. The retrieved studies from databases were screened for its title and abstracts followed by the full-text in accordance with the pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality was appraised by modified Ottawa scale. Random effect model used for statistical modelling. Key findings A total of 26 studies were included for systematic review. Out of which 20 studies with 4525 participants for meta-analysis which employed traditional teaching in control group. Results showed a statistically significant positive effect size on knowledge (standardized mean difference [SMD]: 1.35, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.91 to 1.78, p<0.00001) and skill (SMD: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.19 to 1.16; p = 0.006) using a random effect model. Subgroup analysis of cohort studies showed, studies from developed countries had a larger effect size (SMD: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.01 to 2.06), than studies from developing countries(SMD: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.23 to 0.65, studies with MCQ pattern as outcome assessment had larger effect size (SMD: 2.81, 95% CI: 1.76 to 3.85) than non-MCQs (SMD 0.53, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.74), and BL with case studies (SMD 2.72, 95% CI 1.86–3.59) showed better effect size than non-case-based studies (SMD: 0.22, CI: 0.02 to 0.41). Conclusion BL is associated with better academic performance and achievement than didactic teaching in pharmacy education.

Objective This review evaluates the effectiveness of smartphone applications in improving academic performance and clinical practice among healthcare professionals and students. Methods This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Articles were retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane library through a comprehensive search strategy. Studies that included medical, dental, nursing, allied healthcare professional, undergraduates, postgraduates, and interns from the same disciplines who used mobile applications for their academic learning and/or daily clinical practice were considered. Results 52 studies with a total of 4057 learner participants were included in this review. 33 studies (15 RCTs, 1 cluster RCT, 7 quasi-experimental studies, 9 interventional cohort studies and 1 cross-sectional study) reported that mobile applications were an effective tool that contributed to a significant improvement in the knowledge level of the participants. The pooled effect of 15 studies with 962 participants showed that the knowledge score improved significantly in the group using mobile applications when compared to the group who did not use mobile applications (SMD = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.57 to1.31, P<0.00001). 19 studies (11 RCTs, 3 quasi-experimental studies and 5 interventional cohort studies) reported that mobile applications were effective in significantly improving skills among the participants. Conclusion Mobile applications are effective tools in enhancing knowledge and skills. They can be considered as effective adjunct tools in medical education by considering their low expense, high versatility, reduced dependency on regional or site boundaries, online and offline, simulation, and flexible learning features of mobile apps.

Background:Sepsis is a complex condition defined by the systemic response to infection. Severity assessment scoring systems are used to aid the physician in deciding whether aggressive treatment is needed or not. In this study, various severity assessment scoring systems, namely Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score (MODS), Predisposition, Infection, Response, and Organ Dysfunction (PIRO), and Mortality in Emergency Department Sepsis (MEDS), were compared to assess their sensitivity and specificity.Materials and Methods:A prospective cohort study was conducted over 6 months. The study was conducted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care teaching hospital. All patients above 18 years of age with confirmed sepsis diagnosis and a well-defined outcome were included in the study.Results:A total of 193 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 57.2 ± 15.3 (mean ± standard deviation) years. Majority of the patients were male, 125 (64.76%). Overall mortality was 108 (55.9%). The calculated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.86 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80–0.90) for APACHE II, 0.81 (95% CI: 0.75–0.87) for REMS, 0.80 (95% CI: 0.74–0.86) for SOFA, 0.74 (95% CI: 0.67–0.80) for MODS, 0.78 (95% CI: 0.71–0.84) for PIRO, and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.71–0.83) for MEDS. Sensitivity and specificity for APACHE II were 81.5 and 75.3, respectively.Conclusions:In our study, APACHE II score was found to be the most sensitive and specific in predicting the severity of sepsis compared to other scores.

Background &objectives Though there are studies to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning in pharmacy education, most of them originate from USA and have used previous year students’ scores as control. Also there is less research in comparing use of self -regulated learning strategies between blended and other learning strategies. Primary aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning on knowledge score using clinical research modules. Secondary objective was designed to compare the use of self-regulated learning strategies between blended learning, web-based e-learning and didactic teaching. Materials and methods A prospective cluster randomized trial was conducted with didactic teaching as control and web-based e-learning and blended learning as interventions. The target population was final year Pharm D students. Outcome was assessed using a validated knowledge questionnaire, a motivated strategies for learning questionnaire and a feedback form. All statistical analyses were carried out using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 20. Results A total of 241 students from 12 colleges completed the study. Mean knowledge score of students in blended learning group was higher than those in the didactic teaching and web- based e- learning program (64.26±18.19 Vs 56.65±8.73 Vs 52.11±22.06,p<0.001).Frequency of use of learning strategies namely rehearsal, elaboration, organization and critical thinking was statistically significantly higher in the blended learning group compared to those of didactic and web-based e-learning group (p<0.05) But there were no statistically significant difference of motivational orientations between didactic and blended learning group except strategies of extrinsic goal orientation and self-efficacy. Students preferred blended learning (86.5%) over didactic and web-based e-learning. Conclusion Blended learning approach is an effective way to teach clinical research module. Students of blended learning group employed all motivational and learning strategies more often than students of the didactic and web- based e-learning groups except strategies of intrinsic goal orientation, task value, control of learning belief and help seeking.

Online health communities (OHC) provide various opportunities for patients with chronic or life-threatening illnesses, especially for cancer patients and survivors. A better understanding of the sentiment dynamics of patients in OHCs can help in the precise formulation of the needs during their treatment. The current study investigated the sentiment dynamics in patients’ narratives in a Breast Cancer community group ( Breastcancer.org ) to identify the changes in emotions, thoughts, stress, and coping mechanisms while undergoing treatment options, particularly chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Sentiment dynamics of users’ posts was performed using a deep learning model. A sentiment change analysis was performed to measure change in the satisfaction level of the users. The deep learning model BiLSTM with sentiment embedding features provided a better F1-score of 91.9%. Sentiment dynamics can assess the difference in satisfaction level the users acquire by interacting with other users in the forum. A comparison of the proposed model with existing models revealed the effectiveness of this methodology.