JMIR Research Protocols

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease associated with substantial disease burden. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has shown beneficial effects in improving AD symptoms and reducing recurrence. Inflammation Formula Number 1 (IFN-1), a TCM prescription consisting of 10 herbal ingredients, has demonstrated favorable efficacy in clinical practice. However, traditional decoction preparation is time-consuming and inconvenient for long-term standardized use. Granule formulations may improve convenience, stability, and quality control, but their dose-response relationship and equivalence to traditional decoction remain unclear.

Access to health care, especially in low-resource settings, remains a critical challenge for marginalized and underserved populations. Telemedicine, delivering medical advice remotely, has the potential to improve access to health care by reducing geographic and economic barriers. Its adoption, however, especially in low-resource settings, remains limited. Frugal innovation, characterized by solutions developed under tremendous resource constraints and prioritizing affordability, accessibility, and simplicity, offers valuable insights for enhancing telemedicine adoption. Rooted in a sociocultural approach, it is particularly relevant in low-resource health systems where complex, intersectoral challenges occur. Despite this potential, insights from frugal innovation have not been compared, contrasted, or studied alongside telemedicine in a systematic way.

A substance use disorder (SUD) treatment gap exists globally, with the greatest gaps in settings with the fewest resources. Integrating SUD care into primary care is needed to expand access to SUD care and support adherence to chronic disease services, especially HIV, in high-burden areas. Guided by stakeholder feedback, our team has previously adapted and piloted a peer-delivered behavioral intervention for antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence for people with HIV and SUD in HIV care (“”)—based on behavioral activation, problem-solving, motivational interviewing, and mindfulness-based relapse prevention skills—which was shown to be feasible, acceptable, and preliminarily effective.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations experience significant mental health disparities, yet continue to face persistent barriers to care. Mental Health America (MHA) provides free, web-based screening and self-guided resources to millions of visitors, including tens of thousands of SGM visitors each year. Digital mental health (DMH) can facilitate access to mental health resources; however, engagement remains a central challenge that limits effectiveness. MHA faces similar engagement challenges, with preliminary analyses indicating that most visitors exit the website without accessing substantive mental health content pages. The QT-Digital Mental Health Engagement study uses an iterative approach to develop and test strategies for improving engagement with DMH resources among SGM users.

World Trade Center (WTC) general responders (GRs) continue to experience long-term mental health conditions, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. A growing number of GRs reside in Florida, where barriers such as stigma, limited access to specialty care, and age-related limitations contribute to persistent unmet mental health needs. PTSD Coach, a mobile app originally developed for trauma-exposed veterans, has shown promise but has not been evaluated with WTC GRs or adapted for Spanish-speaking responders.

Emergency departments (EDs) play a critical role in caring for the aging population, particularly those nearing the end of life. Despite advances in integrating palliative care resources in the ED, targeted research on the impact of hospice and palliative care (HPC) consultations for older adults in ED settings remains limited. This systematic review protocol assesses the effects of ED-initiated HPC consultations on health outcomes and the quality of care for older adults.

Oral appliance therapy (OAT) is a widely used treatment for obstructive sleep apnea; however, titration approaches remain variable and lack standardization across clinical practice. Existing evidence is largely derived from academic or specialty sleep centers, with limited data on how titration strategies are implemented and perform in real-world dental settings.

Cognitive impairment begins early in Parkinson disease (PD) and progresses to dementia in most people with PD, reducing quality of life and contributing to growing health-related costs. Physical exercise has potent antiaging effects and improves many outcomes in PD, including cognition. Identifying biomarkers that respond to exercise and determining how they associate with cognition and underlying disease pathology may elucidate key mechanisms for countering cognitive decline.

Heart failure (HF) imposes a substantial clinical and economic burden in China. Although N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is widely used in the diagnostic pathway for HF, conventional thresholds are largely derived from Western populations and may not be fully applicable to Chinese adults.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder in children, often leading to long-term motor impairments. Rehabilitation robotics has emerged as a promising approach in pediatric neurorehabilitation, offering precise and repetitive motor training. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a noninvasive neuromodulation technique, has shown potential in modulating cortical excitability and improving motor function in children with CP.

Proficiency in interpersonal communication and social skills is fundamental for health sciences students, but public speaking anxiety and communication apprehension frequently compromise academic performance, emotional well-being, and the acquisition of essential competencies. The postpandemic educational environment has exacerbated student stress, highlighting the urgent need for reliable assessment tools for social anxiety in this population.

Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a key biomedical HIV prevention strategy that relies heavily on adherence for optimal effectiveness. In China, most PrEP users purchase their medication online, making it challenging to monitor and support adherence effectively.