The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
“There’s a Pain App for That”: Review of Patient-targeted Smartphone Applications for Pain Management
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: There are a growing number of pain self-management applications (apps) available for users to download on personal smartphones. The purpose of this study was to critically appraise the content and self-management functionality of currently available pain apps. METHODS: An electronic search was conducted between May and June 2014 of the official stores for the 4 major operating systems. Two authors independently identified patient-focused apps with a stated goal of pain management. Discrepancies regarding selection were resolved through discussion with a third party. Metadata from all included apps were abstracted into a standard form. The content and functionality of each app as it pertained to pain self-management was rated. RESULTS: A total of 279 apps met the inclusion criteria. Pain self-care skill support was the most common self-management function (77.4%). Apps also purported providing patients with the ability to engage in pain education (45.9%), self-monitoring (19%), social support (3.6%), and goal-setting (0.72%). No apps were comprehensive in terms of pain self-management, with the majority of apps including only a single self-management function (58.5%). In addition, only 8.2% of apps included a health care professional in their development, not a single app provided a theoretical rationale, and only 1 app underwent scientific evaluation. DISCUSSION: Currently available pain self-management apps for patients are simplistic, lack the involvement of health care professionals in their development, and have not been rigorously tested for effectiveness on pain-related health outcomes. There is a need to develop and test theoretically and evidence-based apps to better support patients with accessible pain care self-management.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Overall, the findings show that the majority of available applications do not follow evidence-based guidelines, do not involve health care providers or experts in the development process, and have not undergone any scientific studies of effect and/or validity.”
From ACTsmart: Guided Smartphone-Delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain—A Pilot Trial. (2021) · cites this paper as [32]
In the citing paper
“One significant challenge is the lack of guidance and involvement of health care providers and intended users in the development process [21,27,32-37].”
From A User-Centered Approach to an Evidence-Based Electronic Health Pain Management Intervention for People With Chronic Pain: Design and Development of EPIO (2020) · cites this paper as [34]
In the citing paper
“The process combining evidence-based and user-centered approaches is a previously recommended but underutilized approach to eHealth intervention development [27,33,34].”
From A User-Centered Approach to an Evidence-Based Electronic Health Pain Management Intervention for People With Chronic Pain: Design and Development of EPIO (2020) · cites this paper as [34]
In the citing paper
“The lack of user involvement (ie, patients and health care providers) and human centeredness in development of eHealth interventions have been criticized repeatedly [5,21,27,32,34,36,39], and this lack of user involvement in the development process can potentially also explain the high attrition rates and low adherence associated with such interventions [32,40-42].”
From A User-Centered Approach to an Evidence-Based Electronic Health Pain Management Intervention for People With Chronic Pain: Design and Development of EPIO (2020) · cites this paper as [34]
In the citing paper
“Despite these facts, the development of evidence-based eHealth pain management interventions has been limited [33-35], as has the incorporation of user involvement in these processes.”
From A User-Centered Approach to an Evidence-Based Electronic Health Pain Management Intervention for People With Chronic Pain: Design and Development of EPIO (2020) · cites this paper as [34]
Citations
Cites
The McGill Pain Questionnaire: Major properties and scoring methods
Melzack, R. (1975) · Pain · doi:10.1016/0304-3959(75)90044-5 · Cited by 6,873
Self-management approaches for people with chronic conditions: a review
Barlow, J., Wright, C., Sheasby, J., Turner, A., & Hainsworth, J. (2002) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/s0738-3991(02)00032-0 · Cited by 2,800
Psychological therapies for the management of chronic pain (excluding headache) in adults
Williams, A. C. D. C., Eccleston, C., & Morley, S. (2012) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd007407.pub3 · Cited by 1,634
Peer support within a health care context: a concept analysis
Dennis, C. (2003) · International Journal of Nursing Studies · doi:10.1016/s0020-7489(02)00092-5 · Cited by 1,293
Effectiveness of telemedicine: A systematic review of reviews
Ekeland, A. G., Bowes, A., & Flottorp, S. (2010) · International Journal of Medical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2010.08.006 · Cited by 1,162
Healthcare via Cell Phones: A Systematic Review
Krishna, S., Boren, S. A., & Balas, E. A. (2009) · Telemedicine and e-Health · doi:10.1089/tmj.2008.0099 · Cited by 882
Griffiths, F., Lindenmeyer, A., Powell, J., Lowe, P., & Thorogood, M. (2006) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.8.2.e10 · Cited by 820
Writing SMART rehabilitation goals and achieving goal attainment scaling: a practical guide
Bovend'Eerdt, T. J., Botell, R. E., & Wade, D. T. (2009) · Clinical Rehabilitation · doi:10.1177/0269215508101741 · Cited by 754
Systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological therapies for children with chronic pain
Fisher, E., Heathcote, L., Palermo, T. M., de C Williams, A. C., Lau, J., & Eccleston, C. (2014) · Journal of Pediatric Psychology · doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsu008 · Cited by 710
The severity of chronic pediatric pain: an epidemiological study
Huguet, A., & Miró, J. (2008) · The Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2007.10.015 · Cited by 600
Self-management education programmes by lay leaders for people with chronic conditions
Foster, G., Taylor, S. J., Eldridge, S. M., Ramsay, J., & Griffiths, C. (2007) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd005108.pub2 · Cited by 596
Palermo, T. M., Eccleston, C., Lewandowski, A. S., de C. Williams, A. C., & Morley, S. (2010) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2009.10.004 · Cited by 489
Barlow, J., & Ellard, D. R. (2006) · Child Care Health and Development · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00591.x · Cited by 444
Arthritis self-management studies: a twelve-year review.
Lorig, K., & Holman, H. (1993) · Health Education Quarterly · doi:10.1177/109019819302000104 · Cited by 434
Forgeron, P. A., King, S., Stinson, J. N., McGrath, P. J., MacDonald, A. J., & Chambers, C. T. (2010) · Pain Research and Management · doi:10.1155/2010/820407 · Cited by 381
Smartphone applications for pain management
Rosser, B. A., & Eccleston, C. (2011) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1258/jtt.2011.101102 · Cited by 364
Chronic pain: A reformulation of the cognitive-behavioural model
Sharp, T. J. (2001) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(00)00061-9 · Cited by 356
A systematic review of the effect of waiting for treatment for chronic pain
Lynch, M. E., Campbell, F. A., Clark, A. J., Dunbar, M., Goldstein, D. H., Peng, P., Stinson, J., & Tupper, H. (2007) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2007.06.018 · Cited by 347
‘Gamification’: Influencing health behaviours with games
King, D., Greaves, F., Exeter, C., & Darzi, A. (2013) · Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · doi:10.1177/0141076813480996 · Cited by 319
Demiris, G., Afrin, L. B., Speedie, S. M., Courtney, K. L., Sondhi, M. M., Vimarlund, V., Lovis, C., Goossen, W. T. F., & Lynch, C. (2007) · Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association · doi:10.1197/jamia.m2492 · Cited by 310
Stinson, J., Jibb, L., Nguyen, C., Nathan, P. C., Maloney, A. M., Dupuis, L. L., Gerstle, J. T., Alman, B. A., Hopyan, S., Strahlendorf, C., et al. (2013) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.2350 · Cited by 288
Jensen, M. P., Turner, J. A., & Romano, J. M. (1991) · Pain · doi:10.1016/0304-3959(91)90095-f · Cited by 282
Psychological therapies for the management of chronic pain (excluding headache) in adults
Eccleston, C., Williams, A. C. D. C., & Morley, S. (2009) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd007407.pub2 · Cited by 247
Self-management of chronic pain: a population-based study
Blyth, F., MARCH, L. M., Nicholas, M. K., & Cousins, M. J. (2004) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2004.12.004 · Cited by 243
Pain Assessment as a Social Transaction
Schiavenato, M., & Craig, K. D. (2010) · Clinical Journal of Pain · doi:10.1097/ajp.0b013e3181e72507 · Cited by 242
A Systematic Review of Internet-based Self-Management Interventions for Youth with Health Conditions
Stinson, J., Wilson, R., Gill, N., Yamada, J., & Holt, J. (2009) · Journal of Pediatric Psychology · doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsn115 · Cited by 238
Schunk, D. H. (1984) · The Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.1080/00220671.1984.10885568 · Cited by 215
Stinson, J., McGrath, P. J., HODNETT, E. D., Feldman, B. M., Duffy, C. M., Huber, A. M., Tucker, L. B., Hetherington, C. R., Tse, S. M. L., Spiegel, L. R., et al. (2010) · The Journal of Rheumatology · doi:10.3899/jrheum.091327 · Cited by 209
Challenges in accessing multidisciplinary pain treatment facilities in Canada
Peng, P., Choinière, M., Dion, D., Intrater, H. M., LeFort, S. M., Lynch, M., Ong, M., Rashiq, S., Tkachuk, G. A., Veillette, Y., et al. (2007) · Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d anesthésie · doi:10.1007/bf03016631 · Cited by 178
Assessing the quality and usability of smartphone apps for pain self-management
Reynoldson, C., Stones, C., Allsop, M., Gardner, P., Bennett, M. I., Closs, S. J., Jones, R., & Knapp, P. (2014) · Pain Medicine · doi:10.1111/pme.12327 · Cited by 178
National Study of Chronic Disease Self-Management
Ory, M. G., Ahn, S., Jiang, L., Lorig, K. R., Ritter, P. L., Laurent, D. D., Whitelaw, N., & Smith, M. L. (2013) · Journal of Aging and Health · doi:10.1177/0898264313502531 · Cited by 162
Stinson, J. N., Lalloo, C., Harris, L., Isaac, L., Campbell, F., Brown, S., Ruskin, D., Gordon, A., Galonski, M., Pink, L. R., et al. (2014) · Pain Research and Management · doi:10.1155/2014/935278 · Cited by 149
Peer support telephone calls for improving health
Dale, J. R., Caramlau, I. O., Lindenmeyer, A., & Williams, S. (2008) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd006903.pub2 · Cited by 130
Rosser, B. A., Vowles, K. E., Keogh, E., Eccleston, C., & Mountain, G. A. (2009) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1258/jtt.2009.090116 · Cited by 103
Dedicated multidisciplinary pain management centres for children in Canada: the current status
Peng, P., Stinson, J. N., Choiniere, M., Dion, D., Intrater, H., LeFort, S., Lynch, M., Ong, M., Rashiq, S., Tkachuk, G., et al. (2007) · Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie · doi:10.1007/bf03016632 · Cited by 102
McGillion, M. H., Watt‐Watson, J., Stevens, B., LeFort, S. M., Coyte, P. C., & Graham, A. F. (2008) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.09.015 · Cited by 92
Psychological therapies for the management of chronic pain (excluding headache) in adults
Eccleston, C., Morley, S., & Williams, A. C. D. C. (2008) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd007407 · Cited by 90
Stinson, J., White, M., Isaac, L., Campbell, F., Brown, S., Ruskin, D., Gordon, A., Galonski, M., Pink, L., Buckley, N., et al. (2013) · The Clinical Journal of Pain · doi:10.1097/ajp.0b013e31826dce65 · Cited by 81
Kravitz, R. L., Tancredi, D. J., Grennan, T., Kalauokalani, D. K., Street, R. L., Slee, C. K., Wun, T., Oliver, J. W., Lorig, K. R., & Franks, P. J. (2011) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2011.02.047 · Cited by 72
Self-management skills in adolescents with chronic rheumatic disease: A cross-sectional survey
Lawson, E., Hersh, A., Applebaum, M., Yelin, E., Okumura, M., & von Scheven, E. (2011) · Pediatric Rheumatology Online Journal · doi:10.1186/1546-0096-9-35 · Cited by 67
Self‐administered psychosocial treatments for children and families
Elgar, F. J., & McGrath, P. J. (2003) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.10132 · Cited by 59
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Eccleston, 2012, Williams A deC, et al.. Psychological therapies for the management of chronic and recurrent pain in children and adolescents., Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 12, CD003968
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Birnie, K. A., Hundert, A. S., Lalloo, C., Nguyen, C., & Stinson, J. (2018) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001377 · Cited by 358
The Most Popular Smartphone Apps for Weight Loss: A Quality Assessment
Chen, J., Cade, J. E., & Allman-Farinelli, M. (2015) · JMIR mHealth and uHealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.4334 · Cited by 219
“A range of frameworks have been used to evaluate the quality of apps in a variety of medical and health promotion areas, such as cancer [14-16], diabetes [17,18], smoking [19-21], mental health [22-24], headaches [25], cardiology [26], alcohol [27,28], HIV [29], and pain management [30,31].”
BackgroundMobile Apps for Weight Management: A Scoping Review
Rivera, J., McPherson, A., Hamilton, J., Birken, C., Coons, M., Iyer, S., Agarwal, A., Lalloo, C., & Stinson, J. (2016) · JMIR mHealth and uHealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.5115 · Cited by 169
“The search methods used in this review were modeled after those previously conducted in this area [11,18-21] and in the management of other chronic diseases [22].”
MethodSelf-citationBenefits of mobile apps in pain management: Systematic review
Thurnheer, S. E., Gravestock, I., Pichierri, G., Steurer, J., & Burgstaller, J. M. (2018) · JMIR mHealth and uHealth · doi:10.2196/11231 · Cited by 160
“The reviews show that many of the commercially available apps lack usability and have other limitations, such as absence of rigorous scientific evaluation of the provided content and the recommendations given to patients [10-17].”
BackgroundChallenges in Assessing Mobile Health App Quality
Grundy, Q. H., Wang, Z., & Bero, L. A. (2016) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2016.07.009 · Cited by 154
Metadata
- Authors
- Lalloo, C., Jibb, L. A., Rivera, J., Agarwal, A., & Stinson, J. N.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Great Ormond Street Hospital (GB)
- McMaster University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Lalloo, Chitra
- Jibb, Lindsay A.
- Rivera, Jordan
- Stinson, Jennifer N.
- Venue
- The Clinical Journal of Pain
- Published
- 2015-06
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 557-563
- ISSN
- 0749-8047 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1985859049
- Cited by
- 257
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 5
- FWCI
- 2.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Journal of Pain (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Opioid Use
- Keywords
- pain self-management, mobile health apps, mobile application, pain education, self-monitoring, social support
- MeSH terms
- Smartphone, Humans, Self Care, Pain Management, Mobile Applications
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
