The DOI matches its Crossref record; 21 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Assessing the Quality and Usability of Smartphone Apps for Pain Self-Management
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate smartphone apps intended for self-management of pain using quality assessment criteria and usability testing with prospective users. DESIGN: 1) Survey and content analysis of available apps; and 2) individual usability study of two apps. SETTING: University of Leeds, United Kingdom. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-one participants (aged 19-59 years) with experience of chronic or recurrent pain episodes. METHODS: We undertook a survey, content analysis, and quality appraisal of all currently available mobile phone apps for self-management of pain. Two apps were then selected and assessed with usability testing. RESULTS: Twelve apps met the inclusion criteria. The quality assessment revealed wide variation in their clinical content, interface design, and usability to support self-management of pain. Very little user or clinician involvement was identified in the development of the apps. From the usability testing, participants stated a preference for an interface design employing a lighter color scheme and particular text font. Although very few participants were aware of pain-reporting apps prior to participation, many would consider use in the future. CONCLUSIONS: Variation in app quality and a lack of user and clinician engagement in development were found across the pain apps in this research. Usability testing identified a range of user preferences. Although useful information was obtained, it would be beneficial to involve users earlier in the process of development, as well as establishing ways to merge end user requirements with evidence-based content, to provide high-quality and usable apps for self-management of pain.
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“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 [34]
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“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 [36]
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“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 [36]
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Empirical Studies on Usability of mHealth Apps: A Systematic Literature Review
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Criteria for assessing the quality of mHealth apps: a systematic review
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Metadata
- Authors
- Reynoldson, C., Stones, C., Allsop, M., Gardner, P., Bennett, M. I., Closs, S. J., Jones, R., & Knapp, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Leeds (GB)
- University of York (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Knapp, Peter
- Venue
- Pain Medicine
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-06
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 898-909
- ISSN
- 1526-2375 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-4637
- OpenAlex
- W1600431780
- Cited by
- 178
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 28.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Pain Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (RP-PG-0610-10114)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Keywords
- mobile application, pain self-management, app quality assessment, usability testing, chronic pain, recurrent pain, interface design, user preferences, mobile health
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Data Collection, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Self Care, Software Design, Telemedicine, Cell Phone, Young Adult, Pain Management, Mobile Applications
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