JMIR Research Protocols

Tuberculosis (TB) in children is one of the significant public health crises in Somalia. This issue is aggravated by the fact that only 36.7% of children aged 12-23 months received the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine in Somalia, which helps prevent TB-disseminated diseases. Among the major factors that contribute to the poor BCG uptake and TB prevention practices include the lack of maternal knowledge, negative attitude, and poor self-efficacy towards BCG vaccine and TB prevention practices. As such, pregnant women play a vital role in ensuring that their children receive routine BCG vaccine and accurate TB prevention practices.

Online child sexual abuse and exploitation have become a global issue affecting the health and well-being of children and adolescents. Unlike traditional forms of sexual abuse and exploitation, online sexual abuse presents unique challenges due to the complexity of the situations involved. Parents play a crucial role as the first line of defense in preventing these incidents, yet the barriers they encounter have not been thoroughly explored.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have become the leading cause of mortality worldwide. NCDs account for 89% of all deaths in the United States and cost the US economy over 47 trillion dollars in direct and indirect expenses. NCDs also account for the main cause of disability worldwide and the incidence is increasing. The leading NCDs include diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and mental health conditions. Outside of aging, NCDs are caused by modifiable behavioral risk factors that include smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, unhealthy diet, obesity and inadequate physical activity and treatment must be directed to all of these domains.

Studies suggest that 40%-65% of stroke survivors develop chronic post-stroke pain (CPSP), which severely affects their quality of life and mental health. Empirical evidence suggests that existing treatments often fall short, underscoring the need for innovative, integrative interventions. Virtual Reality (VR) seems to provide valuable tools in stroke rehabilitation. Also, contextual-behavioural psychological approaches, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), offer promising pain management and mental health resources, which seem to be feasible in VR formats. However, their combined application in CPSP remains unexplored.

Informal care is a social challenge that impacts the daily life and Quality of Life (QoL) of caregivers. While care has evidence of positive aspects, it can also have negative impacts on mental, physical, economic, and social well-being. Nowadays, health, social, and care systems for informal caregivers are needed, from a person-centered perspective, to promote their QoL, health, and empowerment. Technology is a promising tool to provide personalized services.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent degenerative joint disease characterized by joint pain, stiffness, and dysfunctional impairment, imposing a substantial medical burden annually. Tuina, a widely utilized non-invasive traditional Chinese medicine therapy commonly employed for KOA, has been used for the management of this condition; however, its additive benefit to acupuncture remains unclear.

Falls are the primary cause of fatal and non-fatal accidental injuries in older adults. The World Falls Prevention Guidelines recommend balance-challenging, functional exercise programmes as a key strategy for falls prevention but access, uptake and adherence to these programmes in community settings remain suboptimal. Keep-On-Keep-Up (KOKU), a digital, National Health Service (NHS) approved programme was co-developed with older adults and therapists, to provide progressive, evidence-based exercises and to raise awareness of fall prevention strategies.

Serious mental illnesses (SMIs) are associated with high relapse rates and limited access to continuous care, particularly in low-resource settings such as urban slums. Traditional clinical monitoring is constrained by accessibility and scalability challenges. Digital phenotyping (DP), through passive smartphone data, offers a novel approach to predict relapse by capturing real-world behavioural changes.

Although physical activity (PA) participation has known health benefits, many individuals with hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) have difficulties participating in PA. HSD/hEDS affect approximately 1 in 500 people and are more prevalent in females. HSD/hEDS may result in frequent joint injuries, chronic pain, and generalized fatigue. These symptoms, and a fear of new or re-injury, may result in barriers to PA participation. Overall, there is limited research on PA in this population. Previous exercise reviews have not included structured PA such as sports and occupational activities; unstructured PA such as play, household or leisure activities; or younger ages including children. Additionally, some females with HSD/hEDS report experiencing more frequent joint injuries and worsening pain and fatigue during times of hormonal transitions such as puberty, pregnancy, as well as cyclically across the menstrual cycle. Some females also report improvements in symptoms and reduction in injury frequency following menopause. The impacts of physical activity during these times of changing hormone levels for females living with HSD/hEDS are uncertain. A clear understanding of what types of structured and unstructured PA are safe and helpful for individuals of all ages with HSD/hEDS, and if PA should be adapted during times of female hormonal changes, is lacking.

Mobile health (mHealth), leveraging mobile devices for health measurement and promotion, is rapidly growing. Smartphone cameras can perform photoplethysmography (PPG) to estimate pulse rate (PR-PPG) and other features of the cardiac cycle. However, establishing the validity of PR-PPG is essential before it can be adopted for healthcare applications. There is a pervasive belief that PR-PPG is analogous to heart rate derived using electrocardiogram (HR-ECG), and we will conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to support or challenge this supposition.

Internationally, physical activity is successfully integrated into academic lessons in primary schools, showing promising results on cognition and student engagement. However, there is a lack of knowledge about its effects and feasibility for individual situated learning processes in upper secondary school.

Therapeutic emesis (T.E), known as vamana karma, is a classical method of detoxification performed to eliminate vitiated kapha ailments primarily from the body. This complete process assessment depends on physicians’ visual assessments of vomitus features and patient responses, introducing subjectivity and interobserver variability. Moreover, this method requires more than continuous monitoring; thus, a physician can sometimes lead to human errors, resulting in missed expelled content or complications. This AI model is proposed to monitor T.E to observe visual changes, i.e. patient vomitus content and gestures, to provide better. clinical outcomes. This approach has been explored for the first time in the traditional system of medicine.