PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among preschoolers' smartphone addiction tendency, problem behaviors, and parenting efficacy of the mothers of these children. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive study design was used with self-administered questionnaires. A total of 83 mothers of preschoolers aged 4-6 years and their preschool teachers from a kindergarten participated in the study. RESULTS: Mean daily time spent by the preschoolers on smartphones was about 45 minutes/day. About 40% spent more than 60 minutes/day on smartphones. The majority (69.8%) used smartphones without adult supervision. The level of smartphone addiction tendency among the preschoolers was 1.52+/-0.45 on a 4-point scale. Preschoolers whose mothers use smartphones for more than 60 minutes/day showed a higher level of smartphone addiction tendency than preschoolers whose mothers use smartphones for less than 60 minutes/day. Also smartphone addiction tendency among preschoolers had a positive correlation with hyperactive-distractible behavior (r=.228, p=.038) and a negative correlation with parenting efficacy of their mothers (r=-.299, p=.006). CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that preschooler's smartphone addiction tendency is significantly associated with hyperactive-distractible behaviors of the children and low parenting efficacy among their mothers. Therefore well-designed care plans for these populations should be provided to decrease smartphone addiction tendency.
Adult ; Cellular Phone ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Mothers* ; Organization and Administration ; Parenting* ; Parents* ; Smartphone ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among preschoolers' smartphone addiction tendency, problem behaviors, and parenting efficacy of the mothers of these children. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive study design was used with self-administered questionnaires. A total of 83 mothers of preschoolers aged 4-6 years and their preschool teachers from a kindergarten participated in the study. RESULTS: Mean daily time spent by the preschoolers on smartphones was about 45 minutes/day. About 40% spent more than 60 minutes/day on smartphones. The majority (69.8%) used smartphones without adult supervision. The level of smartphone addiction tendency among the preschoolers was 1.52+/-0.45 on a 4-point scale. Preschoolers whose mothers use smartphones for more than 60 minutes/day showed a higher level of smartphone addiction tendency than preschoolers whose mothers use smartphones for less than 60 minutes/day. Also smartphone addiction tendency among preschoolers had a positive correlation with hyperactive-distractible behavior (r=.228, p=.038) and a negative correlation with parenting efficacy of their mothers (r=-.299, p=.006). CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that preschooler's smartphone addiction tendency is significantly associated with hyperactive-distractible behaviors of the children and low parenting efficacy among their mothers. Therefore well-designed care plans for these populations should be provided to decrease smartphone addiction tendency.
Adult ; Cellular Phone ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Mothers* ; Organization and Administration ; Parenting* ; Parents* ; Smartphone ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the characteristics of cellular phone use and its association with psychological problems among adolescents. METHODS: A total of 332 adolescent students were recruited for this study. The participants' self-reported characteristics of cellular phone use and the psychological problems caused by this were tested by using the Excessive Cellular Phone Use Survey (ECPUS), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) and the Korea-Youth Self Report (K-YSR). RESULTS: The excessive user group made more use of text messages and they spent more time and paid higher fees than the comparison group. They expressed severer depression and anxiety and they had more behavior problems and lower school performance than the comparison group. The ECPUS score was positively correlated with score of the CDI, STAIC and the behavior problem scales of the K-YSR, and the ECPUS score was negatively correlated with the school performance scale of the K-YSR. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that excessive cellular phone use by adolescents may be related to psychological problems. Careful education about the use of cellular phones and intervention are recommended for adolescents who excessively use cellular phones.
Adolescent ; Anxiety ; Cellular Phone ; Child ; Depression ; Fees and Charges ; Humans ; Self Report ; Text Messaging ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: Dental trauma is frequently unpredictable. The initial assessment and urgent treatment are essential for dentists to save the patient's teeth. Mobile-phone-assisted teleconsultation and telediagnosis for dental trauma could be an aid when a dentist is not available. In the present in-vitro study, we evaluated the success rate and time to transfer images under various conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the image quality of cameras built into mobile phones based on their resolution, autofocus, white-balance, and anti-movement functions. RESULTS: The image quality of most built-in cameras was acceptable to perform the initial assessment, with the autofocus function being essential to obtain high-quality images. The transmission failure rate increased markedly when the image size exceeded 500 kappaB and the additional text messaging did not improve the success rate or the transmission time. CONCLUSION: Our optimal protocol could be useful for emergency programs running on the mobile phones.
Cellular Phone ; Dentists ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Remote Consultation ; Running ; Text Messaging ; Tooth ; Tooth Injuries

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Internet education on plasma glucose and serum lipids in female type 2 diabetic patients. METHOD: Control and experimental groups were assessed by a pre-test and at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months. Fourteen patients were assigned randomly to an intervention group and 15 to a control group. Patients in the intervention group were requested to input their blood glucose levels everyday by cellular phone or wire Internet for 1 year. The goal of the intervention was to keep blood glucose concentrations close to the normal range (glycosylated hemoglobin, HbA1c< 7%). An intervention was applied to the intervention group weekly for 1 year. Optimal recommendations were sent weekly by a short message service from a cellular phone and wire Internet. RESULTS: Patients in the intervention group had a significant mean change in HbA1c, from 7.6% at pre-test to 6.9%, at 3 months and equalized at 6.7% at 12 months. There was no significant time and group differences observed in the serum lipids. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that Internet education would improve and maintain the normal range of HbA1c in female type 2 diabetic patients.
Blood Glucose* ; Cellular Phone ; Education* ; Female* ; Humans ; Internet ; Plasma* ; Reference Values ; Text Messaging

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a short message service intervention on adherence to maximal barrier precautions (MBP) and catheter-related blood stream infections. METHOD: The data were collected from March to September, 2008, at an 826-bed university-affiliated hospital in Daejeon. The study participants were 24 physicians who were inserting central catheters and 133 patients (control group 78 and intervention group 55) with central catheter insertions. The researcher sent the message (adherence to MBP and optimal recommendations) to each internal medicine doctor using the short message service (SMS) for cellular phones. Messages were sent monthly for 3 months. Data were analyzed by chi-square test and t-test using SPSS 12.0 windows program. RESULT: Adherence to maximal barrier precautions was significantly increased from 44.9% to 69.1% (p=.006) after the SMS intervention. But changes in the rate of CRBSI (catheter related blood stream infection) between the intervention group (1.89) and the control group (4.45) were not significant (p=.323). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the SMS intervention is effective in increasing the adherence to maximal barrier precautions and the SMS intervention can be recommended for utilization in infection control nursing practice.
Catheter-Related Infections ; Catheters ; Cellular Phone ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Internal Medicine ; Rivers ; Text Messaging

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects on obesity of nurse education using the short message service (SMS) of cellular phones and wire Internet. METHOD: Forty patients in an experimental group, which was assessed pre- and post intervention, completed this study. The patients were divided into two groups according to degree of obesity. The goal of the intervention was to keep blood glucose concentrations close to the normal range. The intervention was applied weekly for 3 months. Participants were requested to input the blood glucose level everyday at http://www.biodang.com by cellular phone or wire Internet. The researcher sent optimal recommendations to each patient using SMS of cellular phones and wire Internet. The plasma glucose levels and serum lipids were measured before and after the intervention. RESULTS: After 3 months of education, Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) decreased by 1.4% in non-obese patients and 0.7% in obese patients. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) decreased 22.6mg/dl in non-obese patients and 22.3mg/dl in obese patients. Two-hour plasma glucose (2HPG) decreased 97.0mg/dl in non-obese patients and 67.8mg/dl in obese patients. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that a nurse SMS intervention would improve HbA1c, FPG, and 2HPG in both non-obese and obese patients.
Blood Glucose ; Cellular Phone ; Education* ; Fasting ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Internet* ; Obesity* ; Reference Values ; Text Messaging

BACKGROUND: We developed for the first time a smartphone application designed for diabetes self-management in Korea and registered a patent for the relevant algorithm. We also investigated the user satisfaction with the application and the change in diabetes related self-care activities after using the application. METHODS: We conducted a questionnaire survey on volunteers with diabetes who were using the application. Ninety subjects responded to the questionnaire between June 2012 and March 2013. A modified version of the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) was used in this study. RESULTS: The survey results exhibited a mean subject age of 44.0 years old, and males accounted for 78.9% of the subjects. Fifty percent of the subjects had diabetes for less than 3 years. The majority of respondents experienced positive changes in their clinical course after using the application (83.1%) and were satisfied with the structure and completeness of the application (86.7%). Additionally, the respondents' answers indicated that the application was easy to use (96.7%) and recommendable to others (97.7%) and that they would continue using the application to manage their diabetes (96.7%). After using the Diabetes Notepad application, diabetes related self-care activities assessed by SDSCA displayed statistically significant improvements (P<0.05), except for the number of days of drinking. CONCLUSION: This smartphone-based application can be a useful tool leading to positive changes in diabetes related self-care activities and increase user satisfaction.
Cellular Phone ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Drinking ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Mobile Applications ; Self Care* ; Volunteers ; Smartphone ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the effect of Intenet diabetes education varied by gender. METHOD: An experimental group assessed pre- and post intervention was used to assess the effectiveness of diabetes education by nurses. Forty patients separated into two groups by gender partook in the study. The goal of the intervention was to keep blood glucose concentrations close to normal range. The intervention was applied weekly for 3 months. Participants were requested to input their blood glucose level, diet, and exercise diary everyday at http: //www.biodang.com by cellular phone or wire Internet. The researcher sent optimal recommendations to each patient using the short message service of cellular phones and wire Internet. All medication adjustments were communicated to the subjects' doctors. The plasma glucose levels, serum lipids, and care satisfaction were measured before and after the intervention. RESULT: Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) decreased 1.6% and 0.8% in male and female patients respectively after 3 months of education. Total cholesterol decreased 37.2mg/dl in male patients but increased 80.5mg/dl in female patients. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that Internet diabetes education could improve HbA1c and total cholesterol in male patients.
Blood Glucose ; Cellular Phone ; Cholesterol ; Diet ; Education* ; Female ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Internet* ; Male ; Reference Values ; Text Messaging

BACKGROUND: For the effective management of hypertension, drug adherence and life style modification are important. We investigated the effects of mobile phone text-message reminders on compliance and life style modification in patients with hypertension. METHODS: The study was performed at family medicine outpatient clinics at 15 hospitals in South Korea from July 2008 to June 2010. Study subjects included 1,449 patients who were all prescribed candesartan cilexetil. Patients were randomly divided into two groups- mobile phone text-message reminder group and control group. In the reminder group, contents of text messages were recommendations for antihypertensive adherence, exercise, low salt diet, and reduction of weight and alcohol. In the control group, the date of next visit was sent at 10 week. Mobile phone text-messages were sent at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks by the coordinating center. Thereafter, they were followed up for 12 weeks. Chi-square test was performed to compare compliance and performance indexes of the two groups. RESULTS: The reminder group had 719 (49.6%) patients vs. 730 (50.4%) patients in the control group. Attendance rate were 92.8% for the reminder group and 94.7% for the control group (P=0.14). 94.7% of the reminder group and 94.0% of the control group took their medication regularly (P=0.59). The target blood pressure was attained in 75.8% of the reminder group and 75.4% of the control group (P=0.87). Similarly, rates of weight loss, decreased alcohol use, increased physical activity and a low salt diet showed no significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, mobile phone text reminders did not show to have any significant positive effect on the management of hypertension.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Blood Pressure ; Cellular Phone* ; Compliance* ; Diet ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Life Style ; Motor Activity ; Text Messaging ; Weight Loss