In this week’s DocWire Homepage news: Researchers suggest guidelines for health care providers and organizations to improve the content of YouTube videos for patients with chronic health problems. Prescription drug prices have spiked over three times higher than the rate of inflation over the last 10 years. Wearing hearing aids may slow cognitive decline in seniors, and sugar content is most important for people when making healthy food choices.
Study Suggests Guidelines to Improve YouTube Video Content for Patients with Diabetes
The findings of a study suggest that health care providers and organizations should follow a set of guidelines for producing engaging, easily digestible YouTube content that helps patients with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, managing their diagnoses. To conduct this study, the researchers used over 200 search terms to compile a list of 19,873 unique YouTube videos. Next, they used a deep learning method to identify medical terms found in videos before grouping videos based on how much medical information they contained. According to the results of the study, viewers who watched YouTube videos that contained limited medical information typically did not engage with the videos, suggesting the need for medical content. However, the study also found that viewers who watched YouTube videos saturated with medical terms also struggled to maintain attention.
Prescription Drug Prices Have Increased Three Times Faster than the Rate of Inflation Over the Last Decade
A new JAMA study shows that the net price of prescription drugs has increased more than three times faster than the rate of inflation over the course of a decade, even after manufacturer discounts. In this retrospective descriptive study, researchers used pricing data from 2007-2018 to assess the US sales of 602 drugs as reported by publicly traded companies. They estimated net prices by collating company reported sales for each drug and the number of US units sold. The results showed that from 2007-2018, list prices increased by 159%, or 9.1% per year, while net prices increased by 60%, or 4.5% per year, with net prices stabilizing between 2015 and 2018. “We’re seeing a lot of discussion that net prices have stabilized over the last few years, and that does appear to be the case,” said the senior study author.
Hearing Aids may Delay Cognitive Decline and Improve Brain Function in Older Adults
The use of hearing aids may delay cognitive decline while improving brain function in older adults, according to the findings of a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. According to the results of the study, speech perception in quiet, self-reported listening disability and quality of life had significantly improved subsequent to hearing aid fitting. The study authors wrote that: “This research is a positive step in investigating the treatment of hearing aids to delay cognitive decline. Further research is underway to compare cognitive outcomes from a larger sample size with those of a healthy aging comparison group of older Australians with typical hearing for their age.”
Hearing Aids may Delay Cognitive Decline and Improve Brain Function in Older Adults
Sugar Content is the Most Important Factor for Consumers When Making Healthy Food Choices
Sugar content is the most important factor for consumers when making healthy food choices using traffic light labeling (TLL), according to the findings of a study published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. To assess the importance of macronutrients commonly used in TLL, researchers conducted a choice based conjoint analysis (CBC) study of 858 participants aged 18 years and older recruited from the general population of Nottingham, UK. The researchers observed that among 641 participants, when deciding upon the healthiness of items, sugar content was significantly the most important macronutrient. “The dominance of sugar in decision-making shows the labelling system is having an impact in the current public health climate. However, it is important to consider the effect of disregarding other nutrients (i.e. fat and salt) for people with different nutritional needs. We suggest raising awareness of all nutrients to help the public achieve the well- balanced diet,” the study authors concluded.
