Interactive Journal of Medical Research

Perinatal mental health issues are widely recognized as a significant public health concern; however, fathers remain underrecognized and underserved within perinatal care systems. Existing reviews have largely focused on mothers, infants, couples, or general paternal mental health interventions, leaving limited synthesis of technology-based and digitally delivered support relevant to paternal perinatal depression. Digital interventions, including SMS programs, online groups, web-based platforms, mobile health apps, and hybrid digital follow-up, may offer flexible ways of engaging fathers; however, their evidence base remains unclear.

Urinary incontinence (UI) is the most prevalent pelvic floor dysfunction, with incidence increasing with age. Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of pelvic floor exercises in improving UI. However, access to pelvic floor treatment remains limited due to lengthy waiting lists and poor adherence to prescribed exercises. Digital solutions incorporating behavior change techniques (BCTs), including gamification elements, may support self-management of bladder health for individuals aged 50 years and older who may face challenges in accessing conventional treatments.

With population aging and the growing burden of chronic diseases, the number of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in China continues to rise. Nursing robots have been recognized as one potential approach to help alleviate nursing workload. However, patient-centered functional needs with respect to such robots among patients with CVD remain insufficiently explored in China.

This multifacility retrospective analysis of 25 hospitals using BioVigil Technologies’ electronic hand hygiene monitoring system demonstrated a mean of 46.95% (95% CI 35.5%‐58.4%) sustained reductions in health care–associated infections in 2024 compared to pre-implementation baselines, highlighting the clinical and operational value of automated hand hygiene monitoring at scale.

Lung transplantation (LTx) is an established treatment for patients with end-stage lung diseases and can substantially improve survival. However, posttransplant recovery involves complex physical, psychological, and functional challenges, making quality of life (QoL) an important outcome beyond survival alone. Evidence on early longitudinal QoL changes after LTx remains limited, particularly in Chinese recipients and when assessed using disease-specific patient-reported outcome instruments.

Waning immunity and recurring COVID-19 waves point to the importance of sustained booster vaccination strategies. With repeated boosters needed to sustain population-level immunity, evaluating public preferences for COVID-19 booster vaccination is important for informing future vaccination strategies, as changing perceptions of urgency, threat, and motivation may alter willingness to receive vaccine boosters compared with initial uptake.

Basic sciences remain a cornerstone of medical education, but the terms of the debate about their importance have changed. The central risk is no longer their formal exclusion from medical curricula but their curricular invisibility: the gradual dilution of mechanistic reasoning within integrated, technology-mediated, and institutionally unequal training environments. In this Viewpoint, we revisit the past, present, and future of basic science teaching to argue that reform must protect conceptual progression, curricular visibility, and clinical transfer. Active learning, curricular integration, digital tools, and AI may strengthen scientific literacy, but only when they are anchored in faculty development, institutional support, and explicit commitments to rigor and equity.

Acquiring external funding for academic research is a crucial element of researcher performance assessment. However, funding opportunities are often concentrated among a limited number of researchers, reinforcing existing structural inequalities. Under these conditions, it is important to clarify how individual researchers can improve their ability to secure external funding through their own actions and thereby build sustainable academic careers. In addition, fair faculty evaluation requires recognizing disciplinary differences in funding acquisition without assuming a normative research environment.

Our study uses the latest Transparency in Coverage data to show that there is wide variation in health care prices for some of the most commonly utilized services in the United States. The findings demonstrate that there is an opportunity for employers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to curb health care spending by choosing cost-efficient health care networks and providers.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) improves survival, reduces hospitalization, and enhances quality of life in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). As heart failure prevalence increases in aging societies such as Japan, the associated clinical and economic burden continues to rise. Previous cost-effectiveness analyses conducted in multiple countries indicate that CRT-D may be cost-effective in selected patients with HFrEF. However, its cost-effectiveness within the Japanese health care system remains uncertain.

In recent years, German long-term care (LTC) insurance has experienced an unprecedented increase in the number of beneficiaries. This raises the question of the role of health care in preventing or delaying the need for LTC. At present, related findings are limited. Addressing this research gap could promote longevity and improve quality of life while reducing the financial strain on the social security system.