Developing and evaluating non-invasive healthcare technologies for a group of female participants from a socioeconomically disadvantaged area

• When compared to the general population, socioeconomically disadvantaged communitiesfrequently experience compromised health. Monitoring the divide is challenging since standardizedbiomedical tests are linguistically and culturally inappropriate. The aim of this study was to developand test a unique mobile biomedical testbed based on non-invasive analysis, as well as to explorethe relationships between the objective health measures and subjective health outcomes, asevaluated with the World Health Organization Quality of Life survey. The testbed was evaluated in asocioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood in Malmö, which has been listed as one of the twelvemost vulnerable districts in Sweden. The study revealed that compared to conventional protocolsthe less intrusive biomedical approach was highly appreciated by the participants. Surprisingly, thecollected biomedical data illustrated that the apparent health of the participants from the ethnicallydiverse low-income neighborhood was comparable to the general Swedish population. Statisticallysignificant correlations between perceived health and biomedical data were disclosed, even thoughthe dependences found were complex, and recognition of the manifest complexity needs to beincluded in further research. Our results validate the potential of non-invasive technologies incombination with advanced statistical analysis, especially when combined with linguistically andculturally appropriate healthcare methodologies, allowing participants to appreciate the significanceof the different parameters to evaluate and monitor aspects of health.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisation, hälsopolitik och hälsoekonomi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy (hsv//eng)

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