Abstract
To determine the effectiveness of digital health technologies in the management of chronic pain. The systematic review comprised search for randomised controlled trials and controlled clinical trials involving patients with chronic pain published between 2010 and 2020. The search was conducted on PubMed, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, and National Library of Medicine databases. Risk bias tool was used to evaluate the biasness in the studies and Pedro scale was used to assess the quality of the included articles. Of the 33 articles fully assessed, 14(42.42%) were analysed. All the studies analysed were randomised controlled trials and scored 6-10 on the Pedro scale which showed high quality of methodology. The studies typically reported statistically significant benefits of digital health technologies in the management of chronic pain. One of the main benefits was enhanced pain coping skills of the patients. Additionally, majority of the studies included increased adherence to exercise as an essential advantage. All the studies analysed reported favourable conclusions regarding the use of digital intervention for chronic pain management.
Highlights
The internet has been used to provide healthcare interventions as a timeefficient and convenient method, in cases with chronic pain
All the studies analysed reported favourable conclusions regarding the use of digital intervention for chronic pain management
The key words used for the search were: ‘telehealth’, ‘telemedicine’, ‘web-based exercise’, ‘internet delivered exercise’, ‘chronic pain’, ‘osteoarthritis’, ‘SMS service’, ‘low back pain’, ‘Virtual Reality (VR)’, ‘pain coping skills’, ‘persistent pain’, ‘musculoskeletal conditions’, ‘digital activity’, and ‘digital health’
Summary
The internet has been used to provide healthcare interventions as a timeefficient and convenient method, in cases with chronic pain. The internet is believed to be used by about 34% of the world's population; roughly 2.4 billion people. The age group with the fastest increasing internet usage is the older adults. The internet is, a viable mode of communication to allow initiatives to reach a large number of people, older adults living in remote areas. Individuals who are likely to use the internet on a daily basis via cell phones, tablets or computers are gaining acceptance towards this mode of interaction. For acute and chronic pain, remote therapeutics provide independent, home-based and on-demand access to care
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
