Sexual health: Computer-based approaches increase knowledge
2010-09-08
(Press-News.org) Interactive computer packages are effective in improving knowledge about sexual health, according to a new study by Cochrane researchers. Computer-based approaches could help to tackle problems such as sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy.
Patients may be unlikely to discuss sexual health concerns with health professionals because of the sensitivity of the issues, or simply because healthcare providers have limited time. Computer-based interventions are a promising alternative and have already proved successful in the promotion of HIV-related sexual health, but there is less certainty about whether computer-based interventions can help with other sexual health concerns such as unwanted pregnancy, psychosexual difficulties or relationship problems.
The authors reviewed data from 15 trials which tested interactive computer-based interventions (ICBIs), involving a total of 3,917 people. Interactive packages require input from the user, for instance making choices that result in personalised feedback. The interactive packages in these 15 trials made imaginative use of multimedia capability, for example games, animations, scenarios, simulations and interactive characters. The authors combined the results from the trials to answer three questions: are ICBIs effective, are they as effective as face-to-face interventions, and how do they work?
According to the researchers, ICBIs moderately increased knowledge about sexual health issues and had smaller effects on increasing people's confidence in their actions to protect sexual health, and on actual sexual behaviour. In one study for instance, condom use in the previous month was increased. They also concluded that ICBIs seem as effective as face-to-face interventions for improving knowledge but were unable to draw clear conclusions about how ICBIs might work.
"This review suggests interactive computer-based interventions are effective tools for learning about sexual health and could be used by people of different ages and sexuality, at least in high-income countries," said lead researcher Julia Bailey from the e-Health Unit at University College London in London, UK. "We need some new ways of tackling problems such as genital Chlamydia: More and more people have access to mobile phones and the Internet, and these routes can be used to provide personally relevant health promotion."
More evidence is needed for the cost effectiveness of ICBIs, and the relative effectiveness of different designs. The latter may rely on unpicking the complexities of sexual behaviour. "Knowing the main reasons for risky behaviour in a given population would help to suggest which factors a computer package should target. For example, are there particular myths that need to be addressed? Computer packages will not be a magic bullet, but people can access them anonymously and at convenient times, which is especially important for sexual health," said Bailey.
INFORMATION: END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2010-09-08
Acamprosate reduces the number of patients being treated for alcoholism who return to drinking, according to a new Cochrane Systematic Review. The drug showed moderate benefits in trials when used in addition to non-drug treatments.
Drinking too much alcohol increases the risk of ill health. According to the World Health Organization, alcohol misuse is at the root of around a quarter of all cases of oesophageal cancer, liver disease and epilepsy, as well as road accidents and homicides. Acamprosate and naltrexone are drugs used alongside psychosocial methods to help ...
2010-09-08
Microbes could be threatening our cultural heritage by degrading historic cinematographic film and even preventing some valuable footage to be archived at all.
Mr Gavin Bingley who is presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham today describes how fungal growth on cinema film can not only lead to deterioration of the film but may also pose a risk to the archivist.
"Fungi that form mould on film reels produce enzymes that enable them to use components of the film for growth, leading to degradation of the film," explained ...
2010-09-08
There are currently no reliably safe and effective treatments for morning sickness, according to Cochrane researchers who conducted a systematic review of the available evidence. There was very limited evidence for all pharmaceutical and alternative medicines tested.
Morning sickness is the term used to describe vomiting and feelings of nausea in pregnant women. Symptoms can in fact occur at any time of the day and affect more than half of all women in the early stages of pregnancy. Due to concerns that pharmaceutical medicines may damage their unborn children, women ...
2010-09-08
The likelihood that the treatment of a middle ear infection will fail is slightly higher for a child who is given a shorter course of antibiotics, according to a new Cochrane Systematic Review. The results are conclusive, but the researchers say there are other factors that must be considered when the drugs are prescribed.
Most children suffer at some point from a middle ear infection, also called acute otitis media (AOM). It is one of the most common reasons for children being prescribed antibiotics, at a cost of up to $5 billion each year in the US alone. Health practitioners ...
2010-09-08
HIV-infected children in South Africa who were exposed to the drug nevirapine at birth (used to help prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission) and then received a protease inhibitor (PI) for viral suppression achieved lower rates of viremia (virus in the blood stream) if they were switched to nevirapine, compared to children who continued on the PI-based regimen, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA. PI-based therapies generally have a higher cost compared to nevirapine, which may leave some children excluded from treatment.
Current guidelines for nevirapine-exposed ...
2010-09-08
Use of gemcitabine, a drug that can be effective in treating advanced and resected pancreatic cancer, did not result in improved overall survival after pancreatic cancer resection (surgical removal) compared to patients who received fluorouracil and folinic acid, another treatment regimen that has shown effectiveness, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA.
"Pancreatic cancer is one of the major causes of cancer death globally, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5 percent. The outlook for those patients who can undergo surgical resection is better, ...
2010-09-08
Two new studies have shed more light on how smoking may damage fertility, and give further weight to advice that mothers and fathers-to-be should stop smoking before attempting to conceive. The research is published online in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today (Wednesday 8 September).
In the first study [1], researchers found that a mother's smoking during early pregnancy dramatically reduces the numbers of germ cells (the cells that form eggs in females and sperm in males) and somatic cells (the cells that form every other part of ...
2010-09-08
An international consortium of researchers has completed the majority of the genome sequence of the domesticated turkey, thanks in part to the efforts of Virginia Tech faculty members.
The research team will publish "Multi-Platform Next-Generation Sequencing of the Domestic Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo): Genome Assembly and Analysis" in the journal PLoS Biology (Public Library of Science) on Sept. 7, 2010.
"To date, more than 90 percent of the domesticated turkey genome has been sequenced and assembled," said Rami Dalloul, assistant professor of animal and poultry sciences ...
2010-09-08
The Potomac River in Washington, D.C. is showing multiple benefits from restoration efforts, newly published research suggests. Reduced nutrients and improved water clarity have increased the abundance and diversity of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Potomac, according to direct measurements taken during the 18-year field study.
Since 1990, the area covered by SAV in the lower Potomac has doubled, the area covered by native SAV has increased ten-fold, the diversity of plant species has increased, and the proportion of exotic species to native species has declined ...
2010-09-08
Uncovering the secrets of the brain requires an intense network of collaborative research. Building on a tool that was co-developed in his laboratory and described in a recent issue of Brain, Dr. Yaniv Assaf of Tel Aviv University's Department of Neurobiology is collaborating with an international team of scientists to understand how different parts of the human brain "connect" -- and to turn this information into a "brain atlas."
Brain researchers already know that autism and schizophrenia are not localized disorders ––there is no one place in the brain they can be found. ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Sexual health: Computer-based approaches increase knowledge
