Abstract
Given the high prevalence and associated cost of chronic pain, it has a significant impact on individuals and society. Improvements in the treatment and management of chronic pain may increase patients’ quality of life and reduce societal costs. In this paper, we evaluate state-of-the-art machine learning approaches in chronic pain research. A literature search was conducted using the PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library databases. Relevant studies were identified by screening titles and abstracts for keywords related to chronic pain and machine learning, followed by analysing full texts. Two hundred and eighty-seven publications were identified in the literature search. In total, fifty-three papers on chronic pain research and machine learning were reviewed. The review showed that while many studies have emphasised machine learning-based classification for the diagnosis of chronic pain, far less attention has been paid to the treatment and management of chronic pain. More research is needed on machine learning approaches to the treatment, rehabilitation, and self-management of chronic pain. As with other chronic conditions, patient involvement and self-management are crucial. In order to achieve this, patients with chronic pain need digital tools that can help them make decisions about their own treatment and care.
Highlights
Chronic pain has a serious impact on both individuals and society
This review focused on chronic pain studies where the source of the pain was not known, such as fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic low back pain (CLBP)
While reading papers in full text, we discovered some papers in the reference lists that seemed relevant for our review, but that were not identified in the original literature search because the term “machine learning” was not present in their titles or abstracts
Summary
Chronic pain has a serious impact on both individuals and society. Chronic pain can severely affect quality of life [6,7]. Mortality rates have been found to be higher in individuals affected by chronic pain. Chronic pain has a major influence on the consumption of healthcare resources and related costs [11]. The reduced work capacity of patients with chronic pain results in major expenditures in sick leave compensation and disability benefit [12]. For individuals with chronic pain, a study found that the probability of being unemployed was twice as high and the probability of receiving disability benefits was four-times higher, compared to the general population [13]
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