Journal of Medical Internet Research
The leading peer-reviewed journal for digital medicine and health and health care in the internet age.
Editor-in-Chief:
Gunther Eysenbach, MD, MPH, FACMI, Founding Editor and Publisher; Adjunct Professor, School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Canada
Impact Factor 6.0 CiteScore 11.7
Recent Articles

More than one in eight people potentially live with a mental health disorder, yet fewer than half receive treatment. Poor mental health awareness may contribute to this treatment gap, and digital health technologies, like wearables and their associated phone- and web-based applications, have the potential to reduce the mental health awareness gap due to their ease of adoption, objective feedback, and high rate of engagement.

The websites of prominent public health and healthcare organizations play pivotal roles in ensuring access to quality health information, including information guiding health equity. Several initiatives have been developed in the United States to promote equitable, fair, and inclusive health information and practices across prominent health websites. Currently, health disparities across racial groups are recognized as a critical public health problem. Simultaneously, the use of the term “racial health equity/equities” has been rising in academic literature. However, the definition and findability of “racial health equity/equities” information has not yet been evaluated in health websites. Thus, we utilized a systematic review approach to assess the findability and availability of racial health equity terminology and definitions across prominent health organization websites.

Chatbots driven by Large language model (LLM) artificial intelligence (AI) have emerged as potential tools to enhance health information access for cancer patients. However, their integration into patient education raises concerns among oncologists. However, limited literature has examined the perceptions and attitudes of oncologists in terms of endorsing AI-driven chatbots for health information.

Dating apps are virtual sociosexual networking platforms that facilitate varying social and sexual relationships and have considerably changed the way that many queer individuals form social, sexual, and romantic connections. Despite evidence that social media use can be associated with either diminished or improved mental health, few studies have explored the association between dating apps and mental health among queer adults.

Recent longitudinal studies have revealed the heterogeneity of the developmental trajectory of internet addiction (IA), which is believed due to the influences of inter-individual variables. In a social-cognitive framework, family environment (FE) and obsessive beliefs (OBs) are associated with IA severity. However, it remains unclear how these environment and individual cognition factors interact to influence IA development.

Incidents of online public shaming can have devastating consequences for those who are shamed, but how those who witness shaming behaviors react is unclear. When considering online public shaming, it is crucial to be aware of the context in which it occurs. Implicit norms that govern these contexts and evoke emotions can influence what is deemed as acceptable behavior when witnessing public shaming. However, previous work has not examined the role that perceived social acceptability of the shaming content and emotional arousal may have in explaining social media behavior after witnessing online shaming incidents.

Psychiatrization may contribute to the deterioration of public mental health observed in recent decades. The cultural aspects of psychiatrization can be understood as a form of concept creep (progressive expansion) of mental health terminology. Over time, concepts of psychopathology have expanded to encompass a broader range of human experiences, potentially diluting their meaning. Accordingly, previous research has shown a gradual decline in the semantic severity of the word trauma. However, the semantic severity of anxiety and depression has been increasing over time.

Stroke is a leading cause of disability and death worldwide, with home-based rehabilitation playing a crucial role in improving patient prognosis and quality of life. Traditional health education often lacks precision, personalization, and accessibility.In contrast, large language models (LLMs) are gaining attention for their potential in medical health education, owing to their advanced natural language processing capabilities. However, the effectiveness of LLMs in home-based stroke rehabilitation remains uncertain.

The rapid integration of information technology into daily life has exacerbated the digital divide (DD), particularly among older adults, who often face barriers to technology adoption. While prior research has linked technology use to cognitive benefits, the long-term neurostructural and cognitive consequences of the digital divide remain poorly understood.

Medication nonadherence in cardiometabolic syndrome negatively impacts patients’ quality of life, health care systems, and economic stability. Despite extensive research, no universally recognized strategy has been established to improve adherence. SMS text messaging has emerged as a widely accessible and cost-effective intervention, particularly when the intervention is structured using behavioral theories.

The rise of federated learning as a novel privacy-preserving technology offers the potential to create models collaboratively in a decentralized manner to address confidentiality issues, particularly regarding data privacy. However, there is a scarcity of clear and comprehensive evidence that compares the performance of federated learning (FL) with that of the established centralized machine learning (CML) in the clinical domain.
Preprints Open for Peer-Review
Open Peer Review Period:
-
Open Peer Review Period:
-