JMIR mHealth and uHealth

Wearable technology is used by consumers worldwide for continuous activity monitoring in daily life but more recently also for classifying or predicting mental health parameters like stress or depression levels. Previous studies identified, based on traditional approaches, that physical activity is a relevant factor in the prevention or management of mental health. However, upcoming artificial intelligence methods have not yet been fully established in the research field of physical activity and mental health.

Chronic heart failure has become a serious threat to the health of the global population. Self-management is the key to treating chronic heart failure, and the emergence of mHealth has provided new ideas for self-management of chronic heart failure. Despite the many potential benefits of mHealth, public utilization of mHealth apps is low, and poor health literacy is a key barrier to mHealth use. However, the mechanism of the influence is unclear.

Mobile money-based cash transfer interventions are becoming increasingly utilised, especially in humanitarian settings. The South of Madagascar constituted a humanitarian emergency in 2021/2022 when the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and a severe famine affected the fragile region simultaneously.

Lung cancer ranks as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. For lung cancer survivors, cardiopulmonary fitness is a strong independent predictor of survival, while surgical interventions impact both cardiovascular and pulmonary function. Home-based cardiac telerehabilitation through wearable devices and mobile apps is a substitution for traditional, center-based rehabilitation with equal efficacy and a higher completion rate. However, it has not been widely used in clinical practice.

Mobile health technologies show promise in addressing metabolic syndrome, but their comparative effectiveness in large-scale public health interventions remains unclear.

Little is known about women’s decisions around toileting for urination and how those decisions influence moment-to-moment behaviors to manage bladder needs. The new smartphone application Where I Go captures such nuanced and granular data in real-world environments.

Despite widespread awareness of healthy eating principles, many individuals struggle to translate this knowledge into consistent, sustainable dietary change. Food recommender systems, increasingly used in various settings, offer the potential for personalized guidance and behavior change support. However, traditional approaches may prioritize user preferences or popularity metrics without sufficiently considering long-term nutritional goals. This can inadvertently reinforce unhealthy eating patterns. Emerging research suggests that incorporating explanations into recommender systems can increase transparency, promote informed decision-making, and potentially influence food choices. Yet, the effectiveness of explanations in promoting healthy choices within complex, real-world food environments remain largely unexplored.

Adolescence through emerging adulthood represents a critical period associated with changes in lifestyle behaviors. Understanding the dynamic relationships between cognitive, social, and environmental contexts is informative for the development of interventions aiming to help youth sustain physical activity and limit sedentary time during this life stage. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is an innovative method involving real-time assessment of individuals’ experiences and behaviors in their naturalistic or everyday environments; however, EMA compliance can be problematic due to high participant burdens.

Major surgery is associated with significant morbidity and a reduced quality of life, particularly among older adults and individuals with frailty and impaired functional capacity. Multimodal prehabilitation can enhance functional recovery after surgery and reduce postoperative complications. Digital prehabilitation has the potential to be a resource-sparing and patient-empowering tool that improves patients’ preoperative status; however, little remains known regarding their safety and accuracy as medical devices.

Digital phenotyping provides insights into an individual’s digital behaviours and has potential clinical utility.

This analysis of a previously published randomized controlled trial compared the cost of healthcare utilization after knee arthroplasty, demonstrating potential cost savings associated with use of self-directed rehabilitation via a smartphone-based care management platform versus traditional in-person physical therapy.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has already revolutionized the analysis of image, text, and tabular data, bringing significant advances across many medical sectors. Now, by combining with wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs), AI could transform health care again by opening new opportunities in patient care and medical research.