Mobile applications for pain management: an app analysis for clinical usage
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Pain is the most common and distressing symptom for patients in all clinical settings. The dearth of health informatics tools to support acute and chronic pain management may be contributing to the chronic pain and opioid abuse crises. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively evaluate the content and functionality of mobile pain management apps. METHODS: The Apple App Store and the Google Play Store were searched to identify pain management apps. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) that apps include a pain diary function allowing users to record pain episodes, (2) are available in either Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and (3) are available in the English language. We excluded apps if they were limited to only specific forms of pain or specific diseases. RESULTS: A total of 36 apps met the inclusion criteria. Most of the apps served as pain diary tools to record the key characteristics of pain. The pain diary features of the apps were grouped into nine categories: the recordings of pain intensity, pain location, pain quality, pain's impacts on daily life, other features of pain, other related symptoms, medication, patients' habits and basic information, and other miscellaneous functions. The apps displayed various problems in use. The problem of not involving healthcare professionals in app development has not been resolved. Approximately 31% of apps including a pain diary function engaged clinicians in app development. Only 19% involved end-users in development and then only in an ad-hoc way. Only one third of the apps supported the cross-platforms, none of the apps supported clinician access to graphical pain data visualization, none secured HIPAA compliance, and none endorsed the PEG tool for primary care physicians' chronic pain management. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the 36 pain management apps demonstrated various problems including user interface and security. Many apps lacked clinician and end-user involvement in app development impacting the clinical utility of these apps. We could not find any pain apps suitable for clinical usage despite high demand from clinicians due to the US opioid crisis.
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Most existing digital pain management programs focus on providing information about pain and collecting and monitoring data and often lack a theoretical basis.
“Most such programs appear to focus on providing information about pain and collecting and monitoring data (eg, tracking medication use) and often lack a theoretical basis, such as evidence-based psychosocial interventional aspects [21,22].”
From Short-Term Findings From Testing EPIO, a Digital Self-Management Program for People Living With Chronic Pain: Randomized Controlled Trial (2023) · cites this paper as [21]
The Results (App description; page unavailable) show that the studied apps chiefly recorded pain characteristics, medication, and other diary data. The Background says prior reviews found that virtually none fully met expectations for evidence-based content or grounding in clinical pain guidelines. The paper does not establish that most digital pain-management programs provide pain information, nor does it specifically assess their theoretical basis or psychosocial interventions; its own analysis was limited to apps with a pain-diary function. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMany existing digital interventions for pain self-management lack user-centeredness, with limited involvement of end users and health care providers in the development process.
“Many existing digital interventions for pain self-management also lack user-centeredness, with the limited involvement of end users (ie, people with chronic pain) and health care providers in the development process [21,23,24].”
From Short-Term Findings From Testing EPIO, a Digital Self-Management Program for People Living With Chronic Pain: Randomized Controlled Trial (2023) · cites this paper as [21]
Most patient-oriented apps for people living with chronic pain only provide information about pain or about the illness, including ways to check symptoms and track medication use.
“Most patient-oriented apps for people living with chronic pain only provide information about pain or about the illness, including ways to check symptoms and track medication use [23].”
From Digital Self-Management in Support of Patients Living With Chronic Pain: Feasibility Pilot Study (2020) · cites this paper as [23]
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References 33 · Cited by 93
- Authors
- Zhao, P., Yoo, I., Lancey, R., & Varghese, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Missouri (US)
- University of Missouri Health System (US)
- Corresponding author
- Yoo, Illhoi
- Venue
- BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
- Published
- 2019-05-30
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 106-106
- ISSN
- 1472-6947 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6543581
- OpenAlex
- W2947613762
- Cited by
- 93
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 16.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- 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
- mobile health, pain diary, chronic pain, opioid epidemic, app evaluation, end-user involvement, HIPAA compliance, user interface, cross-platform support
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Chronic Pain, Pain Management, Mobile Applications
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