JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies最新文献

{"title":"Delivering Virtual Group Interventions for Youth With Persisting Symptoms After Concussion (Move&Connect-Youth) and Their Caregivers (Move&Connect-Caregivers): Fidelity and Engagement Evaluation.","authors":"Andrea Hickling, Hiba Al-Hakeem, Andrew Lovell, Sophie Madge-Nyren, Kylie D Mallory, Jennifer L Ryan, Christine F Provvidenza, Ruth Wilcock, Patricia Knapp, Brenda Knapp, Shari L Wade, Keith Owen Yeates, Shannon E Scratch","doi":"10.2196/88771","DOIUrl":"10.2196/88771","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Youth with persisting symptoms after concussion (PSaC) can experience ongoing physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges, and their caregivers experience increased stress. There are currently limited interventions that support youth with PSaC or their caregivers. <i>Move&Connect</i> is a virtual group program with 2 parallel interventions: <i>Move&Connect-Youth</i> (<i>M&C-Y</i>) and <i>Move&Connect-Caregivers</i> (<i>M&C-C</i>). <i>M&C-Y</i> includes concussion education, active rehabilitation, and goal setting. <i>M&C-C</i> uses psychoeducation and practical tools to promote family communication and problem solving.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>Within the context of a broader pilot study of <i>M&C-Y</i> and <i>M&C-C</i>, we completed a fidelity and engagement evaluation with the objectives of (1) evaluating intervention fidelity and (2) exploring facilitators and barriers to youth and caregiver engagement.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong><i>M&C-Y</i> and <i>M&C-C</i> were delivered virtually using Zoom Healthcare and ran in parallel. Youth with PSaC and caregivers were recruited from a children's rehabilitation hospital in Ontario, Canada. Intervention fidelity was evaluated according to the 5 principles of fidelity from Bellg et al: design, training, delivery, receipt, and enactment. Intervention delivery, attendance, and engagement ratings were monitored through weekly logs and field notes. Participants completed exit satisfaction surveys, and a subset of youth and caregivers completed semistructured interviews to understand facilitators and barriers to engagement. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze logs and surveys. Directed content analysis, guided by a motivational framework, and inductive coding to identify barriers and facilitators to engagement were applied to qualitative data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 34 youth (age: mean 15.1, SD 2.28 years) and 36 caregivers (age: mean 48.9, SD 5.92 years) participated in 10 <i>M&C-Y</i> and 9 <i>M&C-C</i> groups, respectively. Most youth identified as girls (24/34, 71%), and most caregivers identified as mothers (30/36, 83%). Clinician facilitators adhered to the components of the intervention protocols between 92% and 97% of the time in <i>M&C-Y</i> and 82% and 93% of the time in <i>M&C-C</i>. The majority of youth (22/34, 65%) and caregivers (24/36, 67%) attended 5 or more sessions. In addition, 82% (28/34) of youth and 94% (34/36) of caregivers agreed they would recommend the interventions to others. Qualitative findings revealed youth engagement was supported by motivation, comfort in the virtual setting, interactive intervention components, feelings of trust, and diverse and modifiable exercises. Barriers to youth engagement included ongoing symptoms, discrepancies between exercises and physical abilities, and previous knowledge of education. Caregiver engagement was facilitated by perceived benefits of <i>M&C-C</i>, emotional co","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"13 ","pages":"e88771"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13592660/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149018107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Usability and Acceptance of a Social Robot in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study.","authors":"Jessica Podda, Alice Bollini, Alessia Susini, Domenico Presenza, Keven Thomas Kearney, Erica Grange, Mario Alberto Battaglia, Andrea Tacchino, Giampaolo Brichetto, Ester Cecchella","doi":"10.2196/94068","DOIUrl":"10.2196/94068","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Socially Assistive Robotics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that integrates robotics, medicine, cognitive and social sciences, and neuroscience to support people across diverse contexts. Despite recent advances, its potential for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) remains largely unexplored, even though MS affects sensory-motor, cognitive, and psychological domains where SAR interventions could offer substantial benefits.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to evaluate the usability of a humanoid robot in people with MS (PwMS), compare their experiences with age-matched healthy subjects (HS) and exploratorily identify potential predictors of usability. Additionally, automated analysis of written language was explored as a supplementary approach to complement the quantitative measures.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2025 at the laboratory of the Italian MS Foundation (Genoa, Italy). 20 PwMS (M age 51.4, SD 11.0 years; 65% female; M educational level 13.0, SD 3.4 years) and 20 age-matched HS (M age 47.3, SD 10.1 years; 60% female; M educational level 14.8, SD 2.2 years) completed four predefined tasks with the robot Pepper. Usability was assessed using the System Usability Scale (SUS). Attitudes toward robots, robot-related factors, and task-related effort were measured with the General Attitudes Toward Robots Scale (GAToRS), Godspeed questionnaire, and NASA-TLX, respectively. Psychological variables (e.g., personality traits from I-TIPI) and clinical characteristics for PwMS (e.g., cognitive functions via the app DIGICOG-MS, upper-limb difficulties with the AMSQ) were also collected. Written responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using Natural Language Processing (NLP).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>SUS scores exceeded the standard cut-off in both groups, with no between-group differences (PwMS: M 81.0, HS: M 77.8; P=.392, r=0.14, 95% CI [0.01, 0.42]), indicating high usability. PwMS reported greater negative attitudes toward societal-level robot introduction (GAToRS S-: P=.024, r=0.36, 95%CI [0.08, 0.63]), and judged Pepper as more anthropomorphic (ANTR; P=.007, r=0.42, 95%CI [0.15, 0.67]) and intelligent (INT; P=.020, r=0.37, 95%CI [0.09, 0.61]) than HS. ANTR was strongly associated with visuospatial memory (DIGICOG-MS: ρ= -0.632, P=.003, 95%CI [-0.84, -0.26]), and relatively strong with both verbal memory (DIGICOG-MS: ρ= -0.504, P=.023, 95%CI [-0.77, -0.08]) and Agreeableness (I-TIPI: ρ= 0.491, P=.028, 95%CI [0.06, 0.77]). Exploratory forward stepwise regression showed that Conscientiousness (I-TIPI: B=2.064, 95%CI [0.679, 3.449]), negative personal attitudes toward robots (GAToRS P -: B =0.169, 95%CI [0.033, 0.306]), and perceived upper-limb difficulties (AMSQ: B=0.169, 95%CI [0.033, 0.306]) explained 64% of SUS variance (Adjusted R²= 0.568). Task-related frustration (NASA-TLX: B=- 1.497, 95%CI [-2.276, -0.719]) explained 48%","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149196926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scientific and Technological Developments in Brain-Computer Interfaces: Dual Bibliometric Analysis of Articles and Patents.","authors":"Junhui Wang, Yakun Yuan, Hang Xu, Guannan Luan","doi":"10.2196/95902","DOIUrl":"10.2196/95902","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is undergoing rapid translation from laboratory research to clinical applications, heralding a fundamental restructuring of human-machine relationships, with profound societal implications. Existing bibliometric analyses of this domain have exclusively relied on scholarly article databases, critically overlooking patent data that is essential for capturing the full spectrum of technological innovation in this highly translational field.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to investigate the overall scientific and technological trajectories, key research drivers (journals, institutions, countries, and funding agencies), as well as research topics and trends in the BCI field through a comprehensive analysis of scientific and technical literature (articles and patents).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>BCI-related articles (11,346) and granted patents (1551) published from 2015 to 2025 were retrieved from the Web of Science (WOS) and the incoPat database, respectively. VOSviewer, CiteSpace (Dr Chaomei Chen), Microsoft Excel, and InCites (Clarivate) were used to summarize bibliometric features. Additionally, the Disruptive Index was calculated to characterize the developmental trajectory of scientific and technological advancements in BCIs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The number of BCI articles and patents has been continuously increasing over the past decade. The <i>Journal of Neural Engineering</i> published the largest number of BCI articles. The Chinese Academy of Sciences ranked first in article output, while the University of California System achieved the greatest citation impact, and Tianjin University from China led in patent filings. At the country level, China dominated article output and patent filings, whereas the United States attained the highest article citation impact and the most extensive international patent portfolios. The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) was the most prolific funding agency for BCI articles. Disruptive Index analysis revealed that BCI scientific research (article-based) maintained sustained growth in disruptiveness, whereas technological development (patent-based) demonstrated a pattern of fluctuation rather than consistent growth during the observation period. A total of 5 major research topics were identified, with neural interfaces and motor control attracting the greatest attention. In parallel, the leading technology categories were computer input or output interface devices (IPC: G06F3) and diagnostic measurement and human identification (IPC: A61B5). Citation analysis revealed an average knowledge transfer lag of 8.8 years, alongside limited bidirectional article-patent linkages.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study reveals a rapidly expanding yet strategically differentiated global BCI landscape dominated by China and the United States, with the former leading in output volume and the l","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"13 ","pages":"e95902"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13561149/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Telehealth Use in Occupational Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review.","authors":"Shalini Lal, Shilguia Petel, Sarra Jazi, Joane Adeclas, Daniela Ziegler","doi":"10.2196/89040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2196/89040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the delivery of in-person occupational therapy (OT) services on a global scale, accelerating the adoption of telehealth. During this time, there was a surge of OT-focused research on the use of telehealth. Synthesizing this literature can be helpful to inform routine practice and to prepare for future disruptions to in-person care, including natural disasters, severe weather, and pandemics.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This scoping review maps the literature on telehealth in OT during COVID-19, focusing on setting, study design, participants, clinical fields, modalities, interventions, outcomes, benefits, barriers, and facilitators.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using Arksey and O'Malley's framework and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, we searched seven databases and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed articles. Eligibility criteria included English and French papers reporting on telehealth-delivered OT services during COVID-19, across all ages, conditions, settings, and participant groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>From 4,810 records screened, 43 articles were included. Most articles originated from high-income economies and were descriptive (e.g., cross-sectional surveys, qualitative studies, and experiential reports). Participant groups were diverse, including OTs (including students and OT assistants), clients, caregivers, and others (teachers). The clinical fields in which telehealth was most studied were in pediatric neurodevelopmental/mental health, followed by adult mental health (including dementia). When specified, telehealth was used to delivery physical rehabilitation, coaching/education/training; activities of daily living interventions, assessment, health promotion/wellness, monitoring/follow-up, cognitive or behavioral interventions, social support, consulting, to address leisure, and supervision. When reported, most articles described synchronous telehealth, while the remaining described a mixed approach. When documented, a range of platforms were used, with Zoom being the most frequently mentioned. Only 17 of 43 studies (40%) reported measurable outcomes; among these, most reported statistically significant results. Reported benefits included accessibility and convenience, personalization and contextualization, continuity of care, safety and comfort, caregiver engagement, and social support. Perceived barriers included absence of physical presence, technology challenges, telehealth literacy, skills, and attitudes, home environment constraints, client and caregiver related factors, and organizational challenges. Facilitators included digital health skills, training, and peer support, adaptations to home and interventions, technology-related enablers, caregiver involvement, communication and rapport, intervention resources, and organizational and system-level support.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Telehealth helps to increase access to OT; however, t","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149128696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fidelity of an Online Telecoaching Community-Based Exercise Intervention Among Adults Living With HIV in Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Observational Longitudinal Study.","authors":"Marfy Abousifein, Julia Nathanson, Tizneem Jiancaro, Ada Tang, Puja Ahluwalia, Ahmed M Bayoumi, Lisa Avery, George Da Silva, Francisco Ibáñez-Carrasco, Ivan Ilic, Kiera McDuff, Mona Loutfy, Annamaria Furlan, Zoran Pandovski, Helen Trent, Soo Chan Carusone, Kelly K O'Brien","doi":"10.2196/84902","DOIUrl":"10.2196/84902","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Community-based exercise (CBE) can prevent and mitigate disability and improve health outcomes in people aging with HIV; however, engagement in exercise can vary.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to describe the fidelity of implementation (FOI) of an online telecoaching CBE intervention with adults living with HIV.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted an observational longitudinal study involving a 6-month online CBE intervention involving thrice-weekly 60-minute exercise sessions; online biweekly supervised one-on-one exercise sessions with a personal trainer (13 sessions); and online monthly group educational sessions. We assessed fidelity using (1) online structured interviews with participants living with HIV at months 2 and 6, comprising 20 fidelity items on trainer performance, participant engagement, and exercise experiences; and (2) coaching logs completed by personal trainers after biweekly training sessions (frequency, intensity, time, and type of physical activity during supervised sessions and self-reported physical activity in the prior week). We considered FOI criteria to be met if ≥80% of the participants living with HIV: (1) attended ≥80% of training sessions (11 of 13 sessions); (2) engaged in thrice-weekly exercise the week of the personal training session ≥80% of the time over the 6-month intervention, as reported on the coaching logs; (3) reported \"complete criteria met\" for ≥80% of the fidelity items (≥16 of 20 items) at month 2 and month 6, as reported from the interviews; and (4) engaged in a combination of aerobic, strength, balance, and flexibility exercise ≥80% of the time over the 6-month intervention, as reported in the coaching logs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 29 of 32 participants completed at least 1 fidelity interview; 69% (22/32) were male. FOI was met for 1 of our 4 criteria among the 18 participants who completed the intervention and FOI assessment at month 6, specifically criterion 1, whereby 83% (15/18; 95% CI 66%-100%) of participants attended ≥80% of the 13 coaching sessions. For criterion 2, 50% (9/18; 95% CI 27%-73%) of participants engaged in thrice-weekly exercise in the week of the personal training session ≥80% of the time over the 6-month intervention; criterion 3: ≥80% of participants reported criteria as \"completely met\" for 70% (14/20 items; 95% CI 50%-89%) of items at month 2 (n=27 participants) and 30% (6/20 items; 95% CI 10%-50%) of items at month 6 (n=18 participants); and criterion 4: 22% (4/18; 95% CI 3%-41%) of participants engaged in a combination of all 4 exercise types ≥80% of the time. Barriers to engagement included scheduling issues, lack of interest, technology problems, and episodic disability.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>FOI was achieved for supervised components of the CBE intervention and less so with independent exercise. Health and rehabilitation providers should tailor exercise interventions to per","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"13 ","pages":"e84902"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13586703/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148888690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intelligent Robot-Aided, Task-Oriented Physiotherapy Method for Upper Limb Rehabilitation: Development and Usability Study.","authors":"Piotr Falkowski, Kajetan Jeznach, Jan Oleksiuk, Tomasz Osiak, Maciej Pikuliński, Andrzej Zakręcki, Krzysztof Zawalski, Piotr Kołodziejski, Daniel Śliż","doi":"10.2196/92898","DOIUrl":"10.2196/92898","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Task-oriented rehabilitation supported by exoskeletons has the potential to increase therapy intensity, personalization, and accessibility. However, to achieve fully automatic treatment, robotized systems need to analyze therapy in a more complex way than only based on reference trajectories following.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to investigate the effects of an intelligent, context-aware control algorithm for an upper limb rehabilitation exoskeleton on patients' musculoskeletal engagement, compared with constant-admittance robot-assisted therapy, and conventional physiotherapist-guided treatment.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A single-session experimental study was conducted with 34 adult participants performing 6 activities of daily living under 3 therapy modes: robot-assisted therapy with constant admittance, robot-assisted therapy with an intelligent assist-as-needed algorithm, and physiotherapist-guided therapy. Muscle activity was assessed using surface electromyography of 8 upper limb muscle groups, while joint kinematics were recorded using inertial measurement units. Metrics included electromyography power, muscle activation time, joint range of motion, and Burst Duration Similarity Indices. Statistical comparisons were performed using the <i>t</i> test and the Mann-Whitney <i>U</i> test depending on data normality.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results indicate that the intelligent control strategy engages the musculoskeletal system at least as effectively as constant-admittance control across all exercises. At the same time, more motion control is given to the patient, which is consistent with the principles of neuroplastic motor learning. Compared with physiotherapist-guided therapy, robot-assisted treatment with intelligent control elicited significantly higher and more consistent muscular engagement. Intelligent assistance also modified joint-level motion patterns by reducing compensatory movements, particularly in shoulder-elbow coupling, while maintaining functional task execution. Muscle activation timing patterns during intelligent robot-assisted therapy were more consistent with robotic control than with manual therapy, reflecting altered movement strategies.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings demonstrate that context-aware, intelligent control in rehabilitation exoskeletons can promote active patient participation, reduce compensatory behaviors, and maintain physiologically meaningful muscle engagement. The proposed approach exceeds the results of recent similar studies, being a promising step toward effective, minimally supervised, and task-oriented rehabilitation.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"13 ","pages":"e92898"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13539177/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148881760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Participant-Reported Reductions in Falls and Fall-Related Injuries Associated with Variable-Friction Footwear: A Retrospective Pre-Post Survey Study.","authors":"Sara Nataletti, Jennifer Bartloff, Sara Prokup, Joseph Harris, Anushka Larson, Tyler Susko, Arun Jayaraman","doi":"10.2196/104177","DOIUrl":"10.2196/104177","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Falls represent a critical public health burden in older adults and individuals with neurological disabilities, but evidence for passive footwear-based fall prevention strategies remains limited.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To evaluate changes in fall frequency and fall-related outcomes following adoption of variable-friction (VF) footwear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective pre-post observational study used self-reported survey data collected from community-dwelling adults aged ≥18 years who had worn VF footwear for ≥3 months. Participants were recruited from a convenience sample of 14,570 invited customers who purchased the device through an electronic survey platform. Outcomes included self-reported fall frequency, injurious falls, fall mechanisms, fall-related health care utilization (including medical visits, urgent care, and hospitalization) and assistive device use, assessed before and during VF footwear use.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 706 participants completed the survey, yielding 705 participants with usable data for analysis (4.8% response rate). Mean monthly participant-reported falls decreased from 2.4 (SD 4.3) before VF use to 0.3 (SD 1.9) during VF use (87.1% reduction; Wilcoxon signed-rank, P < .001). The proportion reporting zero falls increased from 22.7% to 84.4%. Among participants with at least 1 fall before VF use (n = 545), 95.4% reported a reduction, including 80.7% reporting zero falls during VF use. Injurious falls decreased by 93.2% (P < .001). Participants requiring medical attention decreased from 192 (27.2%) to 12 (1.7%; 93.8% reduction; P < .001), and hospital or urgent care visits decreased from 131 (18.6%) to 10 (1.4%; 92.4% reduction; P < .001). Trip-related falls decreased from 52.3% to 31.5% of reported mechanisms among participants who reported a fall mechanism in both periods (P < .001). Assistive device use decreased from 70.8% to 16.6% (P < .001). Mean annualized insurance-related fall costs decreased from $5,946.2 to $45.7 per person-year (99.2% reduction) across the full cohort.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>VF footwear use was associated with substantial reductions in self-reported falls, injurious falls, and fall-related healthcare utilization. Reductions in trip-related falls are consistent with the proposed biomechanical mechanism of the device. Given the low survey response rate and potential for self-selection bias, these findings should be considered preliminary. Prospective controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings.</p><p><strong>Clinicaltrial: </strong></p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148866448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stakeholder Perspectives on Facilitators of and Barriers to the Implementation of Internet of Things-Equipped Powered Wheelchairs in Sweden: Qualitative Case Study.","authors":"Johan Borg, Marie Elf, Anders Brantnell, Klas Palm","doi":"10.2196/92414","DOIUrl":"10.2196/92414","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to proactively monitor the functioning of assistive products remains underexplored, particularly in public assistive technology services.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This qualitative single-case study investigated how a public assistive technology provider in Sweden implemented IoT-equipped assistive products.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The implementation process was mapped, and a thematic analysis of interviews with 6 participants representing key organizational roles was conducted.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The process comprised 9 major events involving 4 main stakeholders. The findings included 4 themes of facilitators and 5 themes of barriers, which were synthesized into three meta-themes: (1) system-level structures that enable and constrain implementation, (2) tensions between technological potential and the challenges of realizing it, and (3) relational and cultural dynamics that balance trust with caution.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The findings underscore the importance of using a sociotechnical framework to guide the implementation of IoT in assistive technology services. Such a framework supports a holistic approach that integrates user needs, privacy considerations, and regulatory requirements, while drawing on leadership, technical expertise, and collaboration to address legal, organizational, technical, and user-related challenges. The implications for health care technology implementation are that organizations should adopt sociotechnical implementation strategies that account for legal, organizational, technical, and user-related considerations.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"13 ","pages":"e92414"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13524362/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148881704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Addendum: Managing Musculoskeletal Pain in Older Adults Through a Digital Care Solution: Secondary Analysis of a Prospective Clinical Study.","authors":"Anabela C Areias, Dora Janela, Maria Molinos, Robert G Moulder, Virgílio Bento, Vijay Yanamadala, Steven P Cohen, Fernando Dias Correia, Fabíola Costa","doi":"10.2196/97495","DOIUrl":"10.2196/97495","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/49673.].</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"13 ","pages":"e97495"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13563028/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148841595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digital Aids for Social Media in Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury: Longitudinal Evaluation Study.","authors":"Dakota Sullivan, Nirav N Patel, Lisa Kakonge, Callie Y Kim, Yaxin Hu, Hailey L Johnson, Catalina L Toma, Melissa Duff, Lyn Turkstra, Bilge Mutlu","doi":"10.2196/83639","DOIUrl":"10.2196/83639","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Digital social media aids are features that enhance accessibility to social media for users with disabilities. One group of adults with disabilities who have reported barriers to social media access is adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Results of previous studies showed that adults with TBI want to engage in social media but encounter significant barriers to doing so, due in large part to TBI-related cognitive and communication challenges. We previously collaborated with adults with TBI to develop 5 aids to increase social media access. Aids were implemented as Chrome extensions that modified user interface functions and visuals on Facebook. The present study was the next step: testing the use of the 5 aids by a novel group of adults with TBI longitudinally and in naturalistic settings.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to determine (1) how participants perceived each aid (ie, in terms of satisfaction, usability, likes, and dislikes), (2) how aids influenced participants' well-being, and (3) which aid features participants rated as most and least useful.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We recruited 39 adult Facebook users with TBI to take part in an approximately 1-month-long within-subject evaluation study of Facebook browser aids. Each aid was used for 3 days, followed by an evaluation and a subsequent 2-day no-aid use period. Participants evaluated each of the 5 unique browser aids in a randomized order.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Users reported the aids to be beneficial, especially aids that reduced visual clutter and information overload. Users also reported increased life satisfaction after using the aids (P=.02).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results provide proof of concept for the types of digital aids that could improve access to social media for users with TBI. We advocate including aids like these across all social media platforms so users with TBI can access the benefits of engagement in social media with fewer barriers.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"13 ","pages":"e83639"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13559156/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}