JMIR Research Protocols

Chronic nonspecific neck pain (CNSNP) is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders worldwide. Its etiology is multifactorial, and it constitutes a leading cause of work absenteeism and a significant socioeconomic burden. Therapeutic exercise, strongly supported by scientific evidence, is considered the cornerstone physiotherapy intervention for its management. In recent years, electrical dry needling (EDN) has been increasingly applied in musculoskeletal disorders with the aim of modulating pain and improving function.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory skin diseases, associated with itching, sleep disturbance, and impaired quality of life. Structured patient education can improve disease outcomes, but in-person programs are often unavailable in rural or underserved areas. Digital interventions may help overcome these barriers; however, their efficacy compared with routine care has not been evaluated.

More than 5 million young adults in the United States meet criteria for cannabis use disorder (CUD), placing them at risk for adverse physical, psychiatric, and social outcomes. Most individuals with CUD do not receive treatment due to numerous barriers, including motivation, stigma, limited availability and accessibility of developmentally appropriate services, and competing demands for time and finances. A novel digital health intervention, Momentary Self-Monitoring and Feedback + Motivational Enhancement Therapy—Virtual (MOMENT-V), was developed and combines telehealth motivational enhancement therapy with mobile health ecological momentary intervention (EMI) to provide a fully remote brief intervention for CUD among young adults.

Depressive disorders are a leading cause of disability among women worldwide, yet existing interventions often fail to account for the biological and sociocultural factors shaping women’s risk and symptom presentation.

Frailty and prefrailty are highly prevalent conditions among older adults and are associated with increased functional decline, fall risk, hospitalization, and mortality. Multicomponent supervised exercise programs have demonstrated efficacy in improving physical performance and mitigating frailty, particularly when adapted to older adults’ functional capacity. However, evidence regarding Vivifrail-based interventions for frail and prefrail older adults in Brazil remains limited.

Advanced HIV disease remains a major global health concern, with nearly 40.8 million people living with HIV as of 2024. Antiretroviral therapy has improved outcomes, but its success depends on timely intervention, adherence, and retention in care. AI, including machine learning and deep learning, offers promising tools for prognostic modeling that could support clinical decision-making and personalized treatment. Existing syntheses, however, have been largely narrative and have not systematically evaluated the performance, risk of bias, reporting quality, or clinical readiness of AI-based prognostic models, leaving a critical gap in understanding their validity and applicability.

The global consumption of electronic and electrical products has increased the generation of electronic waste (e-waste), which poses environmental and public health concerns. In Vietnam, informal e-waste processing, characterized by unregulated collection and dismantling, is widespread and exposes workers to hazardous substances. However, data on the health status of e-waste workers remain limited, and exposure to phthalates, which are endocrine-disrupting chemicals widely used in electronics, has not yet been evaluated.

Relapse following drug rehabilitation remains a major mental health challenge in Indonesia. Although rehabilitation programs emphasize individual recovery, postdischarge outcomes are strongly influenced by the family as the primary microsocial environment. However, family mental readiness before discharge from rehabilitation has not been systematically explored, particularly in ways that support structured and scalable postrehabilitation care.

Hospital professionals face mental health challenges caused by the high demands of their work. Mindfulness meditation (MM) is a nonpharmacological practice with promising effects in promoting mental health and well-being across various hospital professionals. However, the benefits obtained from its implementation in the context of real work in hospital departments are understudied.

Establishment of the gut microbiome during the first years of life is critically important for long-term health and development. In preterm infants, microbial colonization is disrupted due to their developmental immaturity and the myriad of pre- and postnatal exposures. Unfortunately, this places them at an elevated risk for adverse health outcomes into childhood (eg, asthma and impaired neurodevelopment). Understanding the developmental trajectory of the microbiome in preterm infants, the factors predicting these microbial patterns, and the links to childhood health can offer opportunities to develop interventions and optimize health.

3D printing is an advanced, computer-aided design (CAD)–guided, layer-by-layer manufacturing technology with strong potential for producing patient-specific drug products. Integrating AI with pharmaceutical 3D printing can accelerate formulation development, improve process robustness and quality, and enable efficient personalization across the preprinting, printing, and postprinting stages. However, evidence remains dispersed across technologies, dosage forms, and AI approaches, making it difficult to obtain a comprehensive understanding of current research and knowledge gaps.