JMIR formative research

BackgroundConversational agents for women's health often fail to meet user needs, offering either clinically sterile advice or unreliable peer anecdotes. This limitation creates a tension between the need for factual safety and emotional re…

BACKGROUND: Stigmatized women's health issues, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis, are often marginalized or dismissed in traditional clinical settings. This drives individuals to seek peer support in anonymous onlin…

BackgroundApproximately 1 in 3 pregnancies in the United States are complicated by one or more adverse pregnancy outcomes. This high prevalence contributes to the elevated rates of maternal and infant mortality in the United States. Modifia…

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological condition affecting approximately 10% of women of reproductive age worldwide and is associated with chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and reduced quality of life. In Brazil's Unified Heal…

BACKGROUND: After experiencing symptoms for an average of 7 years before diagnosis, patients with endometriosis are usually left with more questions than answers about managing their symptoms in the absence of a cure. To help women with end…

BackgroundThe number of women in the armed forces has steadily increased across all branches, even as the overall size of the military remains stable. The population of women veterans is also expanding. The existing literature has extensive…

BackgroundMaternal health research faces challenges in participant recruitment, retention, and data collection, particularly among underrepresented populations. Digital health platforms like PowerMom (Scripps Research) offer scalable soluti…

BackgroundInstagram and other social media platforms provide a unique environment for people with chronic illnesses to share experiences, but posts with higher engagement may also shape behavior. The hashtag #ChronicIllness appears in over …

Background: Transvaginal insertion of polypropylene mesh was extensively used in surgical procedures to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) due to its cost-efficiency and durability. However, studies have reported a high rate of complications…

BackgroundNowadays, the internet has become the primary source of information for physicians seeking answers to medical questions about their patients before consulting colleagues. However, many websites provide low-quality, unreliable info…

BackgroundSocial media has become a widely used way for people to share opinions about health care and medical topics. Social media data can be leveraged to understand patient concerns and provide insight into why patients may turn to the i…

BackgroundInterstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a complex, chronic condition affecting the urinary bladder. Symptoms commonly associated with IC/BPS include painful urination, pain during intercourse, a persistent or recur…

BackgroundGenerative artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in the form of large language models, has rapidly developed. The LLaMA series are popular and recently updated from LLaMA2 to LLaMA3. However, the impacts of the update on diag…

BACKGROUND: Reproductive health conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, and uterine fibroids pose a significant burden to people who menstruate, health care systems, and economies. Despite clinical guidelines for…

BackgroundThe full spectrum of side effects from COVID-19 vaccinations and infections, including milder symptoms or health effects that do not lead to health care visits, remains unknown. Person-centered self-reporting of symptoms may offer…

BACKGROUND: The experience sampling method (ESM) holds advantages over traditional retrospective questionnaires including a high ecological validity, no recall bias, the ability to assess fluctuation of symptoms, and the ability to analyze …

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a complex chronic disease characterized by pain, including painful sex, that can contribute to considerable sexual function, self-esteem, and relationship challenges. Digital storytelling is an arts-based, parti…

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis, which affects 1 in 10 people assigned female at birth, is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease with a high symptom burden and adverse socioemotional impacts. There is a need for an accessible, cost-effective, a…

BackgroundChronic pain is a complex disease with high prevalence rates, and many individuals who are affected do not receive adequate treatment. As a complement to conventional therapies, eHealth interventions could provide many benefits to…

BACKGROUND: Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, are increasingly being used to share health-related information by "influencers," regular users, and institutions alike. While patients may benefit in various ways from the…

BackgroundSocial media platforms such as YouTube are integral tools for disseminating information about health and wellness to the public. However, anecdotal reports have cited that the human gut microbiome has been a particular focus of du…

BackgroundImproving preconception health can benefit all women, their children, and their families regardless of their individual pregnancy intentions. Rapidly increasing access to information technology and online engagement have created o…

BackgroundPersistent genital arousal disorder/genito-pelvic dysesthesia (PGAD/GPD) is a highly distressing yet poorly understood condition characterized by persistent genito-pelvic sensations, often described as "genital arousal," which occ…

BACKGROUND: Symptoms related to endometriosis have a significant impact on the quality of life, and symptoms often recur. The experience sampling method (ESM), a digital questioning method characterized by randomly repeated momentary assess…

BackgroundSocial media platforms provide new possibilities within health research. With Facebook being the largest social network in the world, it constitutes a potential platform for recruitment and data collection from women of reproducti…