Mobile Application-Based Interventions for Chronic Pain Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Effectiveness.

Ann-Christin Pfeifer,Paul Schröder-Pfeifer,Marcus Schiltenwolf,Felix Holl,Walter Swoboda,Riaz Uddin

doi:10.3390/jcm9113557

Abstract

Chronic pain is one of the major causes of disability in the general population. Even though there are effective treatment options available for reducing symptoms, these treatments often do not have consistent lasting effects. As the usage of mobile devices has increased enormously during the last few years, mobile application-based treatment options are widespread. Such app-based programs are not yet empirically proven but might enable patients to become more independent in their pain management in order to prevent relapse. The aim of this meta-analysis was to summarize the literature on mobile application-based interventions for chronic pain patients. Therefore, three electronic bibliographic databases, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, were searched for studies that investigated the effectiveness of mobile application-based intervention for chronic pain on pain intensity. The final sample comprised twenty-two studies, with a total of 4679 individuals. Twelve of these twenty-two studies used a randomized control trial (RCT) design, while ten studies only used an observational design. For all twenty-two studies, a small but significant effect (d = −0.40) was found when compared to baseline measures or control groups. The results suggest that apps-based treatment can be helpful in reducing pain, especially in the long-term.

Highlights

Chronic pain, which is defined as “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage that persists over a period of at least three months” by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) 2020, is a significant burden on society [1,2]
As the access to and utilization of mobile devices have increased during the last few years, and the technology continuously improves almost daily with new updates and features, a current review of Thurnheer and colleagues indicates that apps for pain management might have some beneficial effects [10]
After title and abstract screening, 83 articles were included in the full-text screening; 22 unique studies [36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57] with a total of 4679 patients met the eligibility criteria (1515 in non-randomized control trial (RCT) designs, 3164 in RCT designs) (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Chronic pain, which is defined as “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage that persists over a period of at least three months” by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) 2020, is a significant burden on society [1,2]. Even though the global burden of chronic pain is very high, with prevalence rates between 19% and 37%, the management of the disease is not very effective in the long term [3]. The use of an app, might be useful, in an outpatient setting for the management of pain [10]. Such computer-based programs are cost-effective, easy to implement, and enable patients to become more independent in their pain management in order to prevent relapse [11,12]. App-based interventions are accessible almost 24/7 and avoid geographical constraints for people from rural or remote areas [13,14]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion