JMIR Research Protocols

Auditory spatial attention (ASA) can be impaired in clinical populations and affects everyday activities, yet it remains understudied and lacks practical assessment tools for clinical use. However, recent technological advances have enabled the development of auditory virtual environments capable of engaging attentional networks while remaining compatible with clinical implementation and supporting the collection of objective physiological measures.

Digital mental health apps are increasingly available and used, yet the large majority lack clinical and economic evidence, limiting reimbursement support and the identification of high-value interventions. MindMySkin is a digital psychobehavioral mobile intervention co-designed with patients and guided by behavioral change frameworks to address the psychobehavioral determinants of symptom burden in chronic inflammatory skin diseases. The app comprises 74 modules targeting illness coherence, symptom management, and emotional and functional impairment and is currently being tested in a double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), highly prevalent in older individuals, is associated with frailty and disability. AF therapy is based on rhythm control (RhythmC) to restore sinus rhythm or rate control (RateC) to lower the heart rate. Published guidelines do not indicate a preference for one over the other for older people.

Fatigue remains a major unresolved issue affecting the quality of life of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), even during clinical remission. Scalable psychological approaches are needed to support effective fatigue management.

Adolescence represents a developmental period marked by heightened vulnerability to suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), which remain a leading cause of death among youth, particularly psychiatric inpatients and after discharge. Contemporary ideation-to-action models conceptualize suicidal crises as dynamic processes driven by proximal psychological factors rather than static risk markers. While recent work has begun to examine these processes as they unfold in daily life, their integration into the clinical course of suicidal distress remains limited. From this perspective, relating short-term microlevel processes of STBs to their broader temporal changes across the transition of adolescents from acute inpatient hospitalization to early ambulatory aftercare constitutes an important area for further investigation.

Uveitis is a complex disease involving inflammation of the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. The Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature working group has developed classification criteria for 25 of the most common uveitis entities based on a number of descriptor terms. Due to the broad range of causes of uveitis and the different treatment modalities depending on etiology, investigative aids are vital in expediting accurate diagnosis and management. MicroRNAs, small noncoding RNAs, have exciting potential as biomarkers of disease. They function to alter gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. Other biomarkers of inflammatory disease include cytokines and chemokines. With a substantial proportion of uveitis being classified as “idiopathic,” biomarker research may provide important diagnostic clues and subsequently improve patient outcomes globally. Scoping reviews represent a format for systematically searching the literature. We will use a formal framework for conducting scoping reviews and the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines.

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used in health care training and nursing education to address clinical skills gaps and provide immersive learning experiences. While multiple systematic reviews have synthesized primary research on VR effectiveness, no umbrella review has comprehensively evaluated and integrated findings from existing systematic reviews specifically focused on nursing and midwifery education.

The number of international migrants continues to rise globally, particularly in countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This growing diversity presents sociopolitical challenges related to social cohesion, which are also reflected in academic settings. Some individuals are exposed to different forms of discrimination based on skin color, including both racial microaggressions and macroaggressions. Racism is a major determinant of health and has deleterious effects on those exposed to it.

Transition of care (TOC) is a high-risk period for medication errors as patients move between multiple health care professionals, settings, and changing medication regimens. Ineffective communication systems further increase the likelihood of medication harm and hospital readmission. A TOC service with tailored, patient-specific support may help reduce these risks. Cardiovascular medicines significantly contribute to medication harm, and patients recovering from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or cardiothoracic surgery (CS) are vulnerable due to complex regimens and frequent medication changes. Pharmacists, as medication experts embedded within cardiology teams, are well positioned to support these high-risk patients, facilitate safer transitions from hospital to home, and provide coordinated postdischarge follow-up.

Pandemics threaten economies, security, and public health, requiring strong global and local collaboration and coordination. Public receptivity to emergent vaccine technologies is essential to pandemic readiness. Although messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines offer rapid adaptability and hold promise, their use during the COVID-19 pandemic was met with polarizing debates that raise questions about the conditions needed to support acceptable and equitable use of new vaccines.

In recent years, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has become a first-line recommendation in the Netherlands for individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) who have not responded to a minimum of 2 prior treatments. Although rTMS can be effective, there is a significant risk of relapse after treatment. Currently, there are no standardized treatment options available after rTMS treatment completion aimed at preventing relapse. Preventive cognitive therapy (PCT) is a brief psychological intervention designed to prevent relapse in partially and fully remitted individuals with MDD.

In a significant proportion of carotid interventions, carotid graft replacement is required to achieve a successful outcome either as a primary method or as a bailout solution. Whether carotid grafting should be performed, the indications for its use, and other technical aspects remain insufficiently addressed in the literature. An exhaustive mapping of the sparse and heterogeneous evidence available in the literature may provide a more comprehensive understanding of this topic.