Technology-based aids for lifestyle change are becoming more prevalent for chronic conditions. Important “digital divides” remain, as well as concerns about privacy, data security, and lack of motivation. Researchers need a way to characterize participants’ readiness to use health technologies. To address this need, we created an instrument to measure patient readiness to engage with health technologies among adult patients with chronic conditions.

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet #Preprint #PeerReviewMe: Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint. Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn. Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period. Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author). Background: Uncontrolled hypertension is a significant health problem in the US, despite the fact that multiple drugs exist to effectively treat this chronic disease. Objective: As part of a larger project developing data visualizations to support shared decision making about hypertension treatment, we conducted a series of studies to understand how perceptions of hypertension control were impacted by data variations inherent in the visualization of blood pressure data. Methods: In three web studies, participants (Internet sample of patients with hypertension) reviewed a series of vignettes depicting patients with hypertension; each vignette included a graph of a patient’s BP. We examined how data visualizations that varied by BP mean and standard deviation (Study 1), pattern of change over time (Study 2), and the presence of extreme values (Study 3) affected patient judgments about hypertension control and the need for medication change. Results: Participant judgments about hypertension control were significantly influenced by BP mean and standard deviation (Study 1), data trends (whether BP was increasing or decreasing over time—Study 2), and extreme values (i.e., outliers—Study 3). Conclusions: Patient judgment about hypertension control is influenced both by factors that are important predictors of hypertension related-health outcomes (e.g., BP mean) and factors that are not (e.g., variability and outliers). These findings highlight the importance of developing data visualizations that direct attention toward clinically meaningful information.

Background/Objective: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have received widespread attention as effective obesity treatments. However, limited research has examined the perspectives of patients contemplating GLP-1RAs. This study explored perceptions, motivations, and barriers among individuals considering GLP-1RA therapy for obesity treatment, with the goal of informing patient-centered care and enhancing clinician engagement. Methods: Adults completed surveys and interviews between June and November 2025. In this pragmatic mixed-methods study, both survey and interview questions explored perceived benefits, barriers, and decision-making processes. Qualitative data, describing themes based on the Health Belief Model, were analyzed using Dedoose (version 9.0.107), and quantitative data were analyzed using SAS (version 9.4). Participant characteristics included marital status, income, educational attainment, employment status, insurance status, age, race/ethnicity, and sex. Anticipated length on GLP-1RA medication and selected self-reported health conditions (depression, anxiety, hypertension, heart disease, back pain, joint pain), reported physical activity level, and perceived weight loss competency were also recorded. Results: Among the 31 non-diabetic participants who were considering GLP-1RA medication for weight loss, cost emerged as the most significant barrier. Life course events, particularly (peri)menopause among women over 44, were commonly cited as contributors to weight gain. Participants expressed uncertainty about eligibility, long-term safety, and treatment expectations. Communication gaps were evident, as few participants initiated discussions and clinician outreach was rare, reflecting limited awareness and discomfort around the topic. Conclusions: Findings highlight that individuals considering GLP-1RA therapy face multifaceted emotional, financial, and informational barriers. Proactive, empathetic clinician engagement, through validation of prior efforts, clear communication of risks and benefits, and correction of misconceptions, can support informed decision-making and align treatment with patient goals.

Background: Untreated perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD) have short- and long-term health and social consequences; online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions can reduce symptoms. Despite partner support being protective online interventions rarely target couples. This study builds on research on an existing CBT-based intervention, the Mothers and Babies Online Course (eMB), by testing its feasibility with prenatal couples. Methods: We conducted a pilot, randomized, controlled feasibility trial using a 1:1 parallel design. To be eligible, participant dyads were pregnant people (between 13–30 weeks gestation and with a score of 10 or greater on either the GAD-7 or PHQ-9 scale indicating elevated symptoms of anxiety or depression) and their cohabitating partners, living in Missouri, with access to the internet; both in the dyad consented to participate. Recruitment occurred via Facebook ads, flyers, and a snowball approach. The intervention group received eMB, and the control group received a list of community resources. We examined retention and adherence data extracted from eMB analytics and study databases. All participants were given depression and anxiety scales at baseline, 4 and 8 weeks to test preliminary efficacy; satisfaction and acceptability were measured at trial end (i.e., eight weeks) and via interview. Results: There were 441 people who responded to recruitment materials, 74 pregnant people were screened; 19 partners did not complete enrolment, and 25 dyads were ineligible. There were 15 dyads per group (N = 30) who enrolled; all completed the study. The survey response rate was 90% but partners required nearly twice the number of reminders. No participant completed all lessons. Mean depression and anxiety scores dropped over time for dyads in control (M = -1.99, -1.53) and intervention (M = -4.80, -1.99). Intervention pregnant people’s anxiety significantly decreased (M = -4.05; 95% CI [0.82, 7.27]) at time two compared to control. Twelve pregnant people and four partners participated in post-intervention interviews and suggested improvements for eMB. Conclusion: Online dyadic interventions can potentially reduce PMAD symptoms. However, to feasibly study eMB with couples, strategies to increase program adherence are necessary. Tailoring interventions to overtly include partners may be advantageous. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05867680, 19/05/2023.

Objective: To assess the impact of patient health literacy, numeracy, and graph literacy on perceptions of hypertension control using different forms of data visualization. Materials and Methods: Participants (Internet sample of 1079 patients with hypertension) reviewed 12 brief vignettes describing a fictitious patient; each vignette included a graph of the patient’s blood pressure (BP) data. We examined how variations in mean systolic blood pressure, BP standard deviation, and form of visualization (eg, data table, graph with raw values or smoothed values only) affected judgments about hypertension control and need for medication change. We also measured patient’s health literacy, subjective and objective numeracy, and graph literacy. Results: Judgments about hypertension data presented as a smoothed graph were significantly more positive (ie, hypertension deemed to be better controlled) then judgments about the same data presented as either a data table or an unsmoothed graph. Hypertension data viewed in tabular form was perceived more positively than graphs of the raw data. Data visualization had the greatest impact on participants with high graph literacy. Discussion: Data visualization can direct patients to attend to more clinically meaningful information, thereby improving their judgments of hypertension control. However, patients with lower graph literacy may still have difficulty accessing important information from data visualizations. Conclusion: Addressing uncertainty inherent in the variability between BP measurements is an important consideration in visualization design. Well-designed data visualization could help to alleviate clinical uncertainty, one of the key drivers of clinical inertia and uncontrolled hypertension.

Background: Online health interventions increase access to care, are acceptable to end users and effective for treating mental and physical health disorders. However, less is known about interventions to prevent and treat perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). This review synthesizes existing research on PMAD prevention and treatment by exploring the treatment modalities and efficacy of online interventions and examining the inclusion of underserved populations in PMAD research. Methods: Using PRISMA guidelines, authors conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature published between 2008 and 2018 on online interventions aimed to prevent or treat PMADs. The authors also assessed quality. Eligible articles included perinatal women participating in preventive studies or those aimed to reduce symptoms of PMADs and utilized a Web-based, Internet, or smartphone technology requiring an online component. This study excluded telephone-based interventions that required one-on-one conversations or individualized, text-based responses without a Web-based aspect. Results: The initial search yielded 511 articles, and the final analysis included 23 articles reporting on 22 interventions. Most studies used an experimental design. However, no study achieved an excellent or good quality rating. Psychoeducation and cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBTs) were most common. Several interventions using CBT strategies significantly decreased depression or anxiety. Four studies recruited and enrolled mainly people identifying as low-income or of a racial or ethnic minority group. Attrition was generally high across studies. Discussion: More research using rigorous study designs to test PMAD interventions across all perinatal times is needed. Future research needs to engage diverse populations purposefully.