Faculty Publications
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Item Assessing mobile health applications with twitter analytics(Elsevier Ireland Ltd, 2018) Pai, R.R.; Alathur, S.Introduction: Advancement in the field of information technology and rise in the use of Internet has changed the lives of people by enabling various services online. In recent times, healthcare sector which faces its service delivery challenges started promoting and using mobile health applications with the intention of cutting down the cost making it accessible and affordable to the people. Objectives: The objective of the study is to perform sentiment analysis using the Twitter data which measures the perception and use of various mobile health applications among the citizens. Methods: The methodology followed in this research is qualitative with the data extracted from a social networking site “Twitter” through a tool RStudio. This tool with the help of Twitter Application Programming Interface requested one thousand tweets each for four different phrases of mobile health applications (apps) such as “fitness app” “diabetes app” “meditation app” and “cancer app”. Depending on the tweets, sentiment analysis was carried out, and its polarity and emotions were measured. Results: Except for cancer app there exists a positive polarity towards the fitness, diabetes, and meditation apps among the users. Following a system thinking approach for our results, this paper also explains the causal relationships between the accessibility and acceptability of mobile health applications which helps the healthcare facility and the application developers in understanding and analyzing the dynamics involved the adopting a new system or modifying an existing one. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.Item Assessing awareness and use of mobile phone technology for health and wellness: Insights from India(Elsevier B.V., 2019) Pai, R.R.; Alathur, S.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the awareness and use of mobile phones and applications for health service delivery among technical students, working staff, medical students, and health professionals of India. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample size of 386 students, working staff, and health professionals of engineering and medicine using structured questionnaires and the data were analyzed. Findings: Most of the responses are female (50.25%) of age 18–25 (48.44%). However, respondents have used mobile phones for managing menstrual cycles and chronic/lifestyle diseases. Moreover, the degree of awareness and familiarity about the term “mobile health” was found to be more among technical students and working staff (55.17%) than medical students and health professionals (44.82%). Statistical results also revealed that awareness about the use of mobile phone for health-related components was found to be significant except for health awareness and education, and medication adherence and refilling. Further, about mobile health applications use, there exists a significant association between the study groups for the self-management applications of cancer, cholesterol, heart diseases, and stroke. Conclusion: The study recommends to improve peoples’ awareness and familiarity about the use of mobile phone for managing health and service delivery. This can be achieved with the help of health professionals as most of the people prefer personal visits than through mobile interventions. Moreover, peoples’ socio-demographic factors, perception about the device, and health information also play an important role in using mobile health applications for health service delivery. © 2019 Fellowship of Postgraduate MedicineItem Bibliometric Analysis and Methodological Review of Mobile Health Services and Applications in India(Elsevier Ireland Ltd, 2021) Pai, R.R.; Alathur, S.Purpose: The purpose of this research is to analyze the literature published on mobile health (mHealth) in the Indian context. It also reviews the most important research works and presents various methodologies adopted by the researchers in this domain. Design/methodology/approach: The SciVerse SCOPUS database was used for extracting the literature on mobile health. The study used articles published between January 2008 to 28th June 2019. The keyword used is ‘mHealth’ and journal articles with studies or interventions carried out in India were selected for bibliometric analysis and methodological review. Findings: For the keyword search, a total of 7,874 documents have been extracted, of which only 158 have been considered for the analysis. There is an exponential increase in the number of publications from the year 2015 to 2019. The keywords used for representing their articles have been grouped as mobile health devices, gender and age groups, system and software, health and disease condition, management, evidence-based practices (outcome), methods, and importance of the study. The journal PLOS One (87) has the highest number of citations, followed by The Lancet (63). The bibliometric analysis of the literature revealed seven clusters classified as individual's individual's mobile health applications adoption characteristics, need for mobile health and its governance, mobile phone application with the internet of things based framework for healthcare monitoring, mobile health for primary healthcare systems, authentication and security protocol for mobile healthcare, development and experimentation of mobile health application, and development and mobile health for adherence support intervention. Originality/Value: The study contributes in analyzing the bibliometrics and provides a methodological review for the journal articles published on mobile health. Previous articles considered systematic analysis of the bibliometric for mHealth, and mobile technology but less adequately discussed specifically towards Indian context which this study has embraced. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.Item Mobile health intervention and COVID-19 pandemic outbreak: insights from Indian context(Emerald Group Holdings Ltd., 2021) Pai, R.R.; Alathur, S.Purpose: This paper discusses the need for government and healthcare organization to implement mobile phone-based solutions for healthcare during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. It also highlights the challenges and/or barriers to the rapid introduction, implementation and management of these and other innovative solutions to health service delivery during the current situation Design/methodology/approach: The data include both qualitative and quantitative, collected from the primary interview-based case study and questionnaire survey. It also uses insights from the general populations, healthcare professionals and health information technology developers to understand the role of a mobile health intervention in the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Findings: Healthcare professionals and health information technology developers are confident that the use of mobile health technology and applications has the ability to assist in monitoring and controlling the COVID-19 outbreak. The key advantages of using mobile phone technology are: increased awareness, improved assistance in tracking and testing casualties, improved assistance in seeking and scheduling health information and medical appointments, increased social distancing, improved overall productivity and quality of life. However, data demonstrated that lack of awareness and accessibility or unwillingness to use the technology, complex healthcare needs, application infrastructure, policies and a dearth of training and support are all barriers to successful implementation of this useful tool. Practical implications: This research has the potential to make a significant impact on government and healthcare policy through presenting a coherent argument for the importance of designing and deploying mobile health technology and applications for the general population. Originality/value: prior literature in this domain is inadequate in explaining the importance of mobile phone-based healthcare solutions for health service and during serious disease outbreaks and, in particular, within the Indian context. The findings of this study can be used by government and healthcare organizations to improve health governance during the current global pandemic. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item Sentiment analysis of an epidemic: A case of Nipah virus in India(Inderscience Publishers, 2022) Jayan, V.; Alathur, S.; Pai, R.R.Data in social media and other news media can have an impact on the decision-making process of the government and the citizen if properly examined. The mode and pace of dissemination in both media leads to an increase in the delivery of misinformation. This affects the economy of the country and people's mental health. The government must formulate the required measures to counter the proliferation of fake messages and disinformation in the media, which would otherwise lead to an unnecessary burden. Regulation of health communication during the period of epidemic is important, as it has an effect on the mental health of users of the media. The study assesses the emotions of health communication in social media and online news media in the context of the Nipah epidemic in India during 2018. © © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.Item Impact of COVID-19 on individuals’ mental health and preventive health behaviours: a conceptual framework(Inderscience Publishers, 2022) Pai, R.R.; Chetty, N.; Alathur, S.The corona virus disease (COVID-19) is a pandemic that facilitate a confrontation space for scientific and social existence of human frontiers. The rapid spread and mortality rate of COVID-19 and the preventive measures including social distancing and its impact on economy, developed an unprecedented consciousness around the globe. It has created an effect on the mental health of individuals employed across various sectors and is outlined in this study. There is currently an inadequate theoretical model that focuses on the comprehensive understanding of the psychology of preventive behaviour during the outbreak of pandemics. In this study, a transnational model is delineated for assessing the adoption of preventive behavioural practices associated with COVID-19 pandemic. It uses the components derived from the theories of situational awareness and health belief model and literatures related to impact of containment strategies on various sectors. The contribution includes policy recommendations that can be helpful for the healthcare professionals and government to control the disease spread. © © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.