Interactive Journal of Medical Research

infection (CDI) is the most common cause of health care–associated infectious diarrhea; however, variability in laboratory testing results in uncertainty in diagnosis and clinical decision-making. Recurrent CDI (rCDI), defined as the return of infection following initial treatment, continues to present significant clinical challenges due to limited therapeutic options. Although health care providers are familiar with vancomycin as first-line therapy for CDI, many are less familiar with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), despite its recommendation in clinical guidelines for rCDI management. Consequently, primary care providers (PCPs) may experience uncertainty regarding diagnostic test interpretation, treatment selection, and referral for FMT, highlighting the need for practical clinical tools to support evidence-based management.

Intervention studies frequently report that fewer than half of adolescent participants complete digital health interventions as intended, yet a systematic synthesis of the factors driving this low adherence across lifestyle domains is lacking. Understanding these factors is essential for informing the design of interventions that can sustain adherence and achieve meaningful behavioral outcomes.

Natural health product (NHP) regulations have shifted in Canada, with the aim of reducing “red tape” and enabling market entry. This study assessed how many “stem cell” supplements for sale on Amazon.ca had Health Canada–required natural product number (NPN) licenses compared with vitamin D and “longevity” supplements. It also conducted a marketing overview analysis comparing the Amazon.ca discourse across the 3 product types. Findings show a gap in regulatory licensing compliance between “stem cell” supplements and vitamin D or “longevity” supplements. Marketing discourse also presented potential conflict with regulatory parameters. We discuss the impacts of loosening NHP regulations and the potential for products with weak evidentiary bases to enhance validation through NPN licensing.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective and widely used treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, access is limited by long waiting lists and a shortage of trained therapists. Evidence-based guided and self-guided digital interventions can address these challenges, but their large-scale adoption in routine primary and specialized mental health care has been slow. Blended CBT (bCBT), combining face-to-face therapy with structured, guided digital treatment modules, may increase treatment capacity while maintaining the benefits of therapist support.

Insomnia is a common and persistent symptom in major depressive disorder (MDD), associated with poorer outcomes and reduced quality of life (QoL). Despite its prevalence, recent patient-reported data on the burden of insomnia symptoms in MDD remains limited.

Accurate clinical coding is critical in the casemix system to ensure proper resource allocation, health care policy planning, and data reliability. Inaccurate coding can result in significant financial losses to the hospital. To date, the implications of inaccurate coding in casemix implementations in Malaysia have rarely been explored.

Hypertension is a significant modifiable risk factor for cardiometabolic syndrome, leading to increased morbidity and premature mortality. Understanding the differences in cardiometabolic risk profiles between hypertensive and normotensive adults is essential for effective prevention strategies.

Over the past 2 decades, concerns have arisen about the distinction between health span and lifespan, highlighting that longevity does not necessarily equate to good health, a concept often referred to as “healthy longevity.” While various strategies have been explored to promote healthy aging and achieve healthy longevity, it remains uncertain which practices are most effective.

Emerging evidence supports that women with histories of abuse have heightened stress and immune dysregulation. Few studies have examined the biological plausibility of this association in US Black women—a population disproportionately affected by gender-based violence (GBV), health disparities, and generally underrepresented in research. Biomarkers of stress and immune health remain challenging to study due to barriers in recruitment, retention, and protocol adherence.

Health care organizations face a “triple threat” of low analytics maturity, high workforce instability, and semantic technical barriers that together produce a crisis of “institutional amnesia.” Leadership turnover, workforce shortages, and widespread intent to leave among informatics specialists systematically erase the tacit knowledge required to navigate complex clinical data schemas, trapping organizations in a cycle where knowledge loss outpaces knowledge capture. Viewed through the socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization model of knowledge creation by Nonaka, the root cause is a “socialization failure”: high turnover fractures the social networks required for mentorship, rendering the traditional apprenticeship model of informatics unsustainable. To address this failure, we used a design science research approach synthesizing evidence from health care informatics, knowledge management, and natural language processing to develop a sociotechnical framework: human-in-the-loop knowledge governance (HITL-KG). HITL-KG is designed to shift the locus of organizational knowledge from volatile human memory to durable semantic artifacts called “validated query triples,” each comprising a natural language intent, executable SQL, and rationale metadata. By embedding knowledge capture into the daily query workflow, the framework aims to convert ephemeral analytics into permanent institutional assets. The accompanying 3-pillar assessment rubric enables organizations to identify compounding vulnerabilities across analytics maturity, workforce agility, and technical enablement. The “validator paradox” (who validates the AI when experts leave?) is addressed by reframing validation through lean “standard work”: each validated query establishes the current known standard rather than eternal truth, functioning as a “knowledge ratchet” that prevents regression. Decoupling analytical capability from individual tenure lets analytics maturity advance even as the workforce evolves. This paper proposes and theoretically motivates the framework; empirical validation is deferred to a companion study.

Digital medication adherence interventions for individuals diagnosed with chronic conditions have been developed, but their long-term efficacy in improving medication adherence has been limited. Exploring mechanisms and contexts related to outcomes of digital medication adherence interventions is important for these to be effectively tailored for different populations and contexts. A realist review was conducted to assess which intervention components might work for whom, and under what circumstances.

With the ongoing digitalization of health care, digital health literacy (DHL) is becoming increasingly important, requiring appropriate measurement instruments (DHLMIs). However, the wide range of available DHLMIs makes selection difficult and raises questions about their suitability and comparability.