BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) has been described as a health enabling tool that impacts positively on the health system in terms of improved access, quality and cost of health care. The proposed systematic review will examine the impact of mHealth on health systems by assessing access, quality and cost of health care as indicators.MethodsThe systematic review will include literature from various sources including published and unpublished/grey literature. The databases to be searched include: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, NHS Health Technology Assessment Database and Web of Science. The reference lists of studies will be screened and conference proceedings searched for additional eligible reports. Literature to be included will have mHealth as the primary intervention. Two authors will independently screen the search output, select studies and extract data; discrepancies will be resolved by consensus and discussion with the assistance of the third author.DiscussionThe systematic review will inform policy makers, investors, health professionals, technologists and engineers about the impact of mHealth in strengthening the health system. In particular, it will focus on three metrics to determine whether mHealth strengthens the health system, namely quality of, access to and cost of health care services.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42015026070 Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-016-0387-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) is the use of mobile communication technologies to promote health by supporting health care practices (eg, health data collection, delivery of health care information). mHealth technologies (such as mobile phones) can be used effectively by health care practitioners in the distribution of health information and have the potential to improve access to and quality of health care, as well as reduce the cost of health services. Current literature shows limited scientific evidence related to the benefits of mHealth interventions for breast cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide and contributes a large proportion of all cancer deaths, especially in developing countries. Women, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are faced with low odds of surviving breast cancer. This finding is likely due to multiple factors related to health systems: low priority of women’s health and cancer on national health agendas; lack of awareness that breast cancer can be effectively treated if detected early; and societal, cultural, and religious factors that are prevalent in LMICs. The proposed systematic review will examine the impact of mHealth interventions on breast cancer awareness and screening among women aged 18 years and older.ObjectiveThe objectives of this study are to identify and describe the various mHealth intervention strategies that are used for breast cancer, and assess the impact of mHealth strategies on breast cancer awareness and screening.MethodsLiterature from various databases such as MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials will be examined. Trial registers, reports, and unpublished theses will also be included. All mobile technologies such as cell phones, personal digital assistants, and tablets that have short message service, multimedia message service, video, and audio capabilities will be included. mHealth is the primary intervention. The search strategy will include keywords such as “mHealth,” “breast cancer,” “awareness,” and “screening,” among other medical subject heading terms. Articles published from January 1, 1964 to December 31, 2016 will be eligible for inclusion. Two authors will independently screen and select studies, extract data, and assess the risk of bias, with discrepancies resolved by dialogue involving a third author. We will assess statistical heterogeneity by examining the types of participants, interventions, study designs, and outcomes in each study, and pool studies judged to be statistically homogeneous. In the assessment of heterogeneity, a sensitivity analysis will be considered to explore statistical heterogeneity. Statistical heterogeneity will be investigated using the Chi-square test of homogeneity on Cochrane's Q statistic and quantified using the I-squared statistic.ResultsThe search strategy will be refined with the assistance of an information specialist from November 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018. Literature searches will take place from February 20...

Telemedicine and e-health systems have been proposed as a support tool, to monitor and evaluate HIV/AIDS management strategies. The aim of the present study was to provide an overview of telemedicine and e-health systems for HIV/AIDS in South Africa as a basis for developing an e-health toolkit for anti-retroviral treatment (ART). An initial literature review and a subsequent interactive networking approach were chosen to identify telemedicine and e-health systems, projects and services for HIV/AIDS and ART facilities in low-resource settings and under-served areas. The literature review produced little useful information. In contrast, the face-to-face interviews and the focus group discussions provided useful information about projects and systems which had not been published. The meetings involved 1 - 5 people per session, about 30 people in total. The review showed that there were some plans for telemedicine and e-health implementation in South Africa. However, there was no all-inclusive ICT-based system in place for AIDS treatment there. With the exception of the major health information systems and electronic patient record systems, none of the telemedicine and e-health systems identified in the review were ready to be deployed across the country as a whole.

BackgroundThe emergence of nanomedicine in the past decade has changed the landscape of disease diagnosis and treatment. Nanomedicine makes use of nanostructures for applications in different fields of medicine, including drug delivery, biosensors, neuro-electronic interfaces, in vivo imaging, and cell-specific molecular interactions. Despite its relative infancy, nanomedicine has generated a significant body of research as evidenced by peer reviewed literature and several patents. This proposed systematic review will focus specifically on drug delivery systems in which nanoparticles are used to enhance the pharmacological and therapeutic properties of drugs. The strength of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems is their ability to alter the pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution of drugs.Globally, the discourse on nanomedicine is dominated by research being done in the developed countries of Europe and in the United States of America. Less attention has been given to the applications of nanomedicine in developing countries, particularly Africa. There is dearth of information on the applications of nanomedicine in terms of drug delivery with particular reference to which diseases are being targeted generally in Africa. The review will describe the specific diseases that are being targeted and the progress being made in South Africa, with a view to determining whether the applications of nanomedicine are being appropriated to address the context-specific challenges in this country or if they mimic what is being done globally.MethodsKeywords related to nanomedicine and drug delivery will be combined to build a search strategy for each of the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library (including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Methodology Register), Google Scholar, NHS Health Technology Assessment Database and Web of Science. We will also check reference lists of included studies for other eligible reports and search unpublished data. To ensure that the search is comprehensive, grey literature will be searched extensively. Literature to be included will have nanomedicine in drug delivery as the primary application and report on the specific diseases that are targeted in South Africa. Two authors will independently screen the search output, select studies and extract data; discrepancies will be resolved by consensus and discussion. When no consensus is reached, the third author will be consultedDiscussionThe systematic review will inform the government, policy-makers, investors, health professionals, scientists, and engineers about the applications of nanomedicine in drug delivery. In particular, it will identify the diseases targeted by the application of nanomedicine for drug delivery and the progress being made in South Africa as the disease burden of this country differs from that of developed countries where nanomedicine has been widely used for drug delivery.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42017057388Electronic supplementary...

Telepsychiatry is one of the most longstanding telemedicine disciplines, having started over a century ago with the inception of the telephone; its modern form dates from about 1960.Telepsychiatry uses information and computer technology for diagnosis, therapy, follow-up, forensic purposes, pharmacotherapy management, psychiatric education, etc. Telecommunication links between a remote site and another to which a request/referral is made, allow data transfer (e.g. of videoconferencing images, history, reports and teaching material). Links range from telephone lines to rapid-transfer wireless links. Two or more persons at different locations (typically, a psychiatrist and a patient) most frequently use interactive videoconferencing for the provision of psychiatric expertise not otherwise available at the sender's (i.e. patient's) location. Enormous progress in telepsychiatry and all forms of telemedicine has been made recently, owing to rapidly decreasing costs of computing power, and larger data transfer capacity and storage, which allow telepsychiatry to provide unprecedented access to mental health services, and especially in rural areas. 1 Videoconferencing v. face-to-facePsychiatry is so firmly associated with face-to-face interaction that telepsychiatry's successes are insufficiently appreciated. Applications of telepsychiatryTelephonic interaction has a long history in telepsychiatry, and still remains important, as recent studies in the USA attest. In one report, 15% of such calls were 'urgent' and 1.5 % were 'emergencies'. In the UK (and many other countries, including Attitudes of patients and the providers of psychiatric services are discussed, and a short account is given of the place of tele-education in psychiatric teaching. The advantages of telepsychiatry are outlined and its limitations are discussed.Lastly,the limited experience and relevance of telepsychiatry in South Africa (and hence for other developing countries)are presented. The conclusion is that telepsychiatry is well established, its successes documented, and that it should be applied in planning future public health services in South Africa.articles