Leveraging Influencers to Reach and Engage Vulnerable Individuals With a Digital Health Intervention: Quasi-Experimental Field Study.

Background: Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death, present economic challenges to health care systems worldwide, and disproportionally affect vulnerable individuals with low socioeconomic status (SES). While digital health interventions (DHIs) offer scalable and cost-effective solutions to promote health literacy and encourage behavior change, key challenges concern how to effectively reach and engage vulnerable individuals. To this end, social media influencers provide a unique opportunity to reach millions, and lasting engagement can be ensured through the design of DHIs in a manner that specifically appeals to low-SES individuals through alignment with their social background.

Multimodal Noninvasive Assessment of C-Reactive Protein for Systemic Inflammation in Adults: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Accurate and accessible measurements of inflammatory biomarkers are crucial for the diagnosis and monitoring of inflammatory diseases. The gold-standard C-reactive protein (CRP) requires venipuncture, which, despite providing high-quality samples, can cause discomfort, anxiety, and pain, particularly in vulnerable populations such as older patients. It is also resource-intensive, is unsuitable for remote or at-home use, and lacks continuous monitoring capability.

Toward a Smartphone-Based and Conversational Agent-Delivered Just-in-Time Adaptive Holistic Lifestyle Intervention for Older Adults Affected by Cognitive Decline: Two-Week Proof-of-Concept Study.

Background: Dementia is projected to impact 152 million people by 2050, making it one of the most pressing global health challenges. The neurodegenerative process initiates well before clinical symptoms manifest, advancing from subjective cognitive decline (SCD) to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and ultimately to dementia. Despite the growing prevalence, awareness of dementia prevention is limited, and many individuals express a desire to cease living upon diagnosis.

Predicting postprandial glucose excursions to personalize dietary interventions for type-2 diabetes management.

Elevated postprandial glucose levels present a global epidemic and a major challenge in type-2 diabetes (T2D) management. A key barrier to developing effective dietary interventions for T2D management is the wide inter-individual variation in glycemic and behavioral responses, which limits the impact of one-size-fits-all recommendations. To enable personalized dietary prompts for glycemic control, it is critical to first predict an individual's susceptibility to elevated postprandial (PPG) levels-or state of momentary vulnerability to PPG excursions.

Barriers and facilitators of implementing value-based care: The case of SwissDiabeter.

Objective: Global spending on diabetes care soared to $966 billion in 2021, a 316% surge over the past 15 years. This sharp increase underscores a need for more efficient and cost-effective care strategies. Value-based care (VBC), which prioritizes patient outcomes while controlling expenses, presents a promising solution.

Mobile health intervention CanRelax reduces distress in people with cancer in a randomized controlled trial.

Mindfulness and relaxation exercises are effective face-to-face interventions for reducing distress in people with cancer. Their effectiveness in mobile health settings has yet to be investigated. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the CanRelax 2 app in reducing distress in people with cancer.

Top-funded digital health companies offering lifestyle interventions for dementia prevention: Company overview and evidence analysis.

Background And Objective: Dementia prevention has been recognized as a top priority by public health authorities due to the lack of a reversible cure. In this regard, digital dementia-preventive lifestyle services (DDLS) emerge as potentially pivotal services, aiming to address modifiable risk factors on a large scale. This study aims to identify the top-funded companies offering DDLS and evaluate their clinical evidence to gain insights into the international service landscape.

Success factors and measures for scaling patient-facing digital health technologies from leaders' insights.

Background: Europe's healthcare systems face a triple burden: the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), an aging population, and a shortage of healthcare professionals. NCDs, the leading causes of death, disproportionately affect older adults, placing significant pressure on healthcare services. By 2050, nearly 30% of Europe's population will be aged 65 or older, up from 20% in 2023.

Advances in Food-As-Medicine Interventions and Their Impact on Future Food Production, Processing, and Supply Chains.

Food-as-medicine (FAM) is an emerging trend among medical doctors, health insurers, startups, and governmental public-health and nongovernmental organizations. FAM implies using food as a part of an individual's health plan to prevent or help treat acute and chronic health conditions and diseases. We highlight trends and hurdles in the FAM intervention pyramid.

Understanding and overcoming barriers to digital health adoption: a patient and public involvement study.

Background: Digital health (DH) technologies provide scalable and cost-effective solutions to improve population health but face challenges of uneven adoption and high attrition, particularly among vulnerable and minority groups.

Purpose: This study explores factors influencing DH adoption in a multicultural population and identifies strategies to improve equitable access.

Methods: Using a Patient and Public Involvement approach, lay facilitators engaged adults at public eateries in Singapore to discuss motivations and barriers to DH adoption.

Digital health technologies and innovation patterns in diabetes ecosystems.

Background: The global rise in type-2 diabetes (T2D) has prompted the development of new digital technologies for diabetes management. However, despite the proliferation of digital health companies for T2D care, scaling their solutions remains a critical challenge. This study investigates the digital transformation of T2D ecosystems and seeks to identify key innovation patterns.

The LvL UP trial: Protocol for a sequential, multiple assignment, randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a blended mobile lifestyle intervention.

Background: Blended mobile health (mHealth) interventions - combining self-guided and human support components - could play a major role in preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and common mental disorders (CMDs). This protocol describes a sequential, multiple assignment, randomised trial aimed at (i) evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of LvL UP, an mHealth lifestyle intervention for the prevention of NCDs and CMDs, and (ii) establishing the optimal blended approach in LvL UP that balances effective personalised lifestyle support with scalability.

Methods: LvL UP is a 6-month mHealth holistic intervention targeting physical activity, diet, and emotional regulation.

Self-Efficacy Effects on Symptom Experiences in Daily Life and Early Treatment Success in Anxiety Patients.

Self-efficacy is a key construct in behavioral science affecting mental health and psychopathology. Here, we expand on previously demonstrated between-persons self-efficacy effects. We prompted 66 patients five times daily for 14 days before starting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to provide avoidance, hope, and perceived psychophysiological-arousal ratings.

The Effect of Young People-Assisted, Individualized, Motion-Based Video Games on Physical, Cognitive, and Social Frailty Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Frailty: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The aging population highlights the need to maintain both physical and psychological well-being. Frailty, a multidimensional syndrome, increases vulnerability to adverse outcomes. Although physical exercise is effective, adherence among older adults with frailty is often low due to barriers.

Noninvasive, Multimodal Inflammatory Biomarker Discovery for Systemic Inflammation (NOVA Study): Protocol for a Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Prolonged systemic inflammation is recognized as a major contributor to the development of various chronic inflammatory diseases. Daily measurements of inflammatory biomarkers can significantly improve disease monitoring of systemic inflammation, thus contributing to reducing the burden on patients and the health care system. There exists, however, no scalable, cost-efficient, and noninvasive biomarker for remote assessment of systemic inflammation.

Top-funded companies offering digital health interventions for the prevention and treatment of depression: a systematic market analysis.

Background: Digital innovations can reduce the global burden of depression by facilitating timely and scalable interventions. In recent years, the number of commercial Digital Health Interventions for Depression (DHIDs) has been on the rise. However, there is limited knowledge on their content and underpinning scientific evidence.

Network analyses of ecological momentary emotion and avoidance assessments before and after cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders.

Negative emotions and associated avoidance behaviors are core symptoms of anxiety. Current treatments aim to resolve dysfunctional coupling between them. However, precise interactions between emotions and avoidance in patients' everyday lives and changes from pre- to post-treatment remain unclear.

Assessing the Short-Term Efficacy of Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia With Different Types of Coaching: Randomized Controlled Comparative Trial.

Background: Digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (dCBTi) is an effective intervention for treating insomnia. The findings regarding its efficacy compared to face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia are inconclusive but suggest that dCBTi might be inferior. The lack of human support and low treatment adherence are believed to be barriers to dCBTi achieving its optimal efficacy.

Using Wearables to Study Biopsychosocial Dynamics in Couples Who Cope With a Chronic Health Condition: Ambulatory Assessment Study.

Background: Technology has become an integral part of our everyday life, and its use to manage and study health is no exception. Romantic partners play a critical role in managing chronic health conditions as they tend to be a primary source of support.

Objective: This study tests the feasibility of using commercial wearables to monitor couples' unique way of communicating and supporting each other and documents the physiological correlates of interpersonal dynamics (ie, heart rate linkage).

Effects of app-based relaxation techniques on perceived momentary relaxation: Observational data analysis in people with cancer.

Objective: To examine the effects of six relaxation techniques on perceived momentary relaxation and a possible association of relaxation effects with time and practice experience in people with cancer.

Methods: We used data from participants with cancer in a larger study practicing app-based relaxation techniques over 10 weeks, assessed momentary relaxation before and after every third relaxation practice, and analyzed momentary relaxation changes with a linear mixed-effects model.

Results: The sample included 611 before-after observations from 91 participants (70 females (76.

A holistic lifestyle mobile health intervention for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and common mental disorders in Asian women with a history of gestational diabetes: a randomised control trial with 3-year follow-up protocol.

Background: Women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are 12-fold more likely to develop type 2 diabetes (T2D) 4-6 years after delivery than women without GDM. Similarly, GDM is associated with the development of common mental disorders (CMDs) (e.g.

A Chatbot-Delivered Stress Management Coaching for Students (MISHA App): Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Globally, students face increasing mental health challenges, including elevated stress levels and declining well-being, leading to academic performance issues and mental health disorders. However, due to stigma and symptom underestimation, students rarely seek effective stress management solutions. Conversational agents in the health sector have shown promise in reducing stress, depression, and anxiety.

Influence of voluntary isocapnic hyperpnoea on recovery after high-intensity exercise in elite short-track speedskaters - randomized controlled trial.

Respiratory muscle training plays a significant role in reducing blood lactate concentration (bLa) and attenuating negative physiological stress reactions. Therefore, we investigated if voluntary isocapnic hyperpnoea (VIH) performed after a maximum anaerobic effort influences bLa and perceived fatigue level in well-trained speedskaters. 39 elite short-track speedskaters participated in a trial with two parallel groups: experimental and control.

Circadian rhythm analysis using wearable-based accelerometry as a digital biomarker of aging and healthspan.

Recognizing the pivotal role of circadian rhythm in the human aging process and its scalability through wearables, we introduce CosinorAge, a digital biomarker of aging developed from wearable-derived circadian rhythmicity from 80,000 midlife and older adults in the UK and US. A one-year increase in CosinorAge corresponded to 8-12% higher all-cause and cause-specific mortality risks and 3-14% increased prospective incidences of age-related diseases. CosinorAge also captured a non-linear decline in resilience and physical functioning, evidenced by an 8-33% reduction in self-rated health and a 3-23% decline in health-related quality of life score, adjusting for covariates and multiple testing.