Interactive Journal of Medical Research

Adult spinal deformity (ASD) is a prevalent condition often treated with circumferential spinal fusion (CF), which can be performed as staged or same-day procedures. However, evidence guiding the choice between these approaches is lacking.

Major depressive disorder contributes to the global burden of mental illness. Therapeutic guidelines promote treatment self-management and support caregivers and family members in this process.

China has the largest elderly population globally, the growth rate of the aged tendency of the population was higher than that of Western countries. Given the distinctions in historical ethnic economic status and social-cultural background, the Chinese adults had different sleep patterns contrasted with other countries. Given the heavy disease burden caused by ADL disability, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) to test the hypothesis that individuals with short and longer sleep duration are more likely to have ADL disability.

Sepsis is a recognized global health issue that continues to contribute significantly to mortality and morbidity in intensive care units (ICUs). The association between mean arterial pressure (MAP) and prognosis among sepsis patients has yet to be demonstrated.

Case report forms (CRFs) are the instrument used by research organizations worldwide to collect information about patients and study participants with the purpose to answer specific questions, assess efficacy and safety of medical products and in general to improve prevention and treatment in healthcare. To obtain significant research results out of the collected data, CRFs should be designed following the recommendations issued by regulatory authorities. However, we believe that semantic interoperability in CRFs has not yet been properly addressed. Within an international consortium comprising several COVID-19 cohorts, we scrutinized the questions included in the different CRFs with the purpose to establish semantic interoperability across the different study data elements so that data could be merged and jointly analysed. We realized that similar concepts were structured very differently across the different CRFs making it hard to find and match the information. Based on the experience acquired we developed five guiding principles on how to design CRFs to support semantic interoperability and increase data quality while also facilitating the sharing of data. Our aim in this viewpoint is to provide general suggestions that, in our opinion, should support researchers in designing CRFs. We conclude by urging authorities to establish an international coordination board for standards and interoperable clinical study data with competence in clinical data, interoperability standards and data protection as part of a preparedness plan for future pandemics or other health threats.

The rapid implementation of telemedicine during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic raises questions about the sustainability of this intervention at the global level.

Ferroptosis, as a novel modality of cell death, holds significant potential in elucidating the pathogenesis and advancing therapeutic strategies for breast cancer.

Excessive use of smartphones is recognized as a major problem in our modern society and can have dramatic consequences on the health of adolescents and young adults. Measuring problematic smartphone use in research and clinical practice is generally operationalized with self-reported questionnaires. In order to comprehensively assess the issue of problematic smartphone usage within the French population, it is imperative to employ validated French-language questionnaires. However, at this point, existing questionnaires are primarily available in English. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, these English questionnaires have yet to undergo validation processes for French-speaking cohorts.

Participation and completion rates in questionnaire-based surveys are often low.

As digital mental health delivery becomes increasingly prominent, a solid evidence base regarding its efficacy is needed.

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of mortality globally. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs are crucial for patients recovering from cardiac events, as they help reduce the risk of recurrent events and support patient recovery. The patient’s journey in CR spans the stages before, during, and after the program. Patients have to progress through each stage of CR programs successfully to complete the entire CR journey and get the full benefits of CR programs, but numerous barriers within this journey can hinder patient progression.

In this viewpoint, we argue that recent studies using clinical public databases have revolutionized our understanding of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a chronic inflammatory skin condition with significant impacts on patients’ quality of life. Our key messages are as follows: (1) these databases enable large-scale studies integrating genetic, epidemiological, and clinical data, providing crucial insights into HS’s genetic predispositions, comorbidities, and treatment outcomes; (2) findings highlight a strong genetic component, with mutations in the γ-secretase complex playing a key role in HS pathogenesis and shaping targeted therapies; (3) studies also reveal elevated risks for comorbidities like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and systemic inflammation in patients with HS, with diet-driven inflammatory pathways potentially exacerbating disease severity; (4) while these databases offer unprecedented research opportunities, limitations such as data representativeness and quality must be considered; (5) nonetheless, their benefits outweigh potential drawbacks, allowing the identification of rare comorbidities, disease progression patterns, and personalized treatment strategies; and (6) increased funding for HS research is crucial to harness these databases’ full potential, develop targeted therapies, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. As HS’s impact is disproportionate to current research investments, we believe advocating for more resources and addressing database limitations will be key to advancing HS understanding and care.