Benefits of mobile apps in pain management: Systematic review
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pain is a common condition with a significant physical, psychosocial, and economic impact. Due to enormous progress in mobile device technology as well as the increase in smartphone ownership in the general population, mobile apps can be used to monitor patients with pain and support them in pain management. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review was to assess the efficacy of smartphone or computer tablet apps in the management of patients with pain. METHODS: In December 2017, a literature search was performed in the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane, and PsycINFO. In addition, a bibliography search was conducted. We included studies with at least 20 participants per arm that evaluated the effects of apps on smartphones or computer tablets on improvement in pain. RESULTS: A total of 15 studies with 1962 patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 4 studies examined the effect of mobile apps on pain management in an in-clinic setting and 11 in an out-clinic setting. The majority of the original studies reported beneficial effects of the use of a pain app. Severity of pain decreased in most studies where patients were using an app compared with patients not using an app. Other outcomes, such as worst pain or quality of life showed improvements in patients using an app. Due to heterogeneity between the original studies-patient characteristics, app content, and study setting-a synthesis of the results by statistical methods was not performed. CONCLUSIONS: Apps for pain management may be beneficial for patients, particularly in an out-clinic setting. Studies have shown that pain apps are workable and well liked by patients and health care professionals. There is no doubt that in the near future, mobile technologies will develop further. Medicine could profit from this development as indicated by our results, but there is a need for more scientific inputs. It is desirable to know which elements of apps or additional devices and tools may improve usability and help patients in pain management.
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Digital solutions may have the potential to improve outreach and provide easy and relatively low-cost access to pain self-management interventions.
“Digital solutions may have the potential to improve outreach and provide easy and relatively low-cost access to pain self-management interventions [17,18].”
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 [17]
The Discussion’s Implications section says pain-management apps can combine diaries, education, reminders, treatment recommendations, and communication with health care personnel. The Comparison With Existing Literature section also describes remote pain-coping training and access to symptom information from home. These passages support the potential for digital pain-management access, but the paper does not establish improved outreach or relatively low cost. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredRigorous efficacy testing to establish efficacy appears scarce in existing digital pain self-management interventions.
“Finally, rigorous efficacy testing to establish efficacy appears to be scarce in the existing digital pain self-management interventions [17,27]”
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 [17]
The Discussion > Implications section says more high-quality studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of pain-management apps. Results > Methodological Quality reports only one high-quality RCT among the included studies. This supports the claim for mobile apps, but the cited review does not establish that rigorous testing is scarce across digital pain self-management interventions generally. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredExisting digital pain self-management interventions have shown promising results in meeting unfulfilled needs, supporting psychological well-being, and improving health-related quality of life.
“Existing digital pain self-management interventions have, for example, shown promising results in meeting unfulfilled needs, supporting psychological well-being, and improving health-related quality of life (HRQoL) [17-20].”
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 [17]
The Results section (‘Effects of Apps on Other Outcomes and Information About Feasibility’; page not provided) reports improvements in well-being, anxiety or positive affect in some studies, and says all studies evaluating quality of life found improvement among app users. The paper describes ways apps can support pain management, but does not establish that these interventions met previously unfulfilled needs. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCapacity for self-regulation is a limited source that can be fatigued, and the complexity of chronic pain likely negatively affects ability to self-regulate.
“Studies have shown capacity for self-regulation to be a limited source that can be fatigued,4,5,55 and the complexity of chronic pain likely negatively affects ability to self-regulate.46,48,58,69”
From Living well with chronic pain: a 12-month randomized controlled trial revealing impact from the digital pain self-management program EPIO (2024) · cites this paper as [55]
The citation is attached to the claim that chronic pain likely impairs self-regulation, not to the preceding claim about self-regulatory fatigue. The Introduction discusses apps that support pain management, and the Discussion describes pain-coping interventions, but neither addresses whether the complexity of chronic pain reduces self-regulatory ability. Searches for self-regulation, fatigue, and that proposed effect found no relevant passage in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.72)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredExisting eHealth and mHealth solutions in pain settings have focused mostly on self-administered treatments, mostly psychological or physical therapy.
“To date, the focus of existing eHealth and mHealth solutions in pain settings has been mostly placed on self-administered treatments, mostly of psychological or alternatively of physical therapy nature [64,65,66].”
Findings from web-based CBT or ACT-based interventions tested in support of people living with chronic pain are still inconclusive.
“even though some web-based CBT or ACT-based interventions have been tested in support of people living with chronic pain, findings are still inconclusive and interventions need further testing, also in app format [13,22,26-28].”
From Digital Self-Management in Support of Patients Living With Chronic Pain: Feasibility Pilot Study (2020) · cites this paper as [28]
Several studies have pointed to great potential for the use of eHealth in chronic pain management.
“Several studies have pointed to great potential for the use of eHealth in chronic pain management [21,23,24,27,30,31].”
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 [24]
eHealth interventions have shown promising results in helping people cope with health-related issues and chronic illness, including pain.
“Electronic health (eHealth) interventions, referring to health-related interventions distributed through technology, have shown promising results in helping people cope with health-related issues and chronic illness, including pain [19-25].”
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 [24]
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A Clinical Journey Mobile Health App for Perioperative Patients: Cross-sectional Study
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Enhancing the Impact of Mobile Health Literacy Interventions to Reduce Health DisparitiesPreprint
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Engaging with EPIO, a digital pain self-management program: a qualitative study
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“Studies have also shown existing pain management applications (apps) to be considered usable and liked by patients and health care professionals, however with a necessity for further research and scientific input [16].”
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Pain Management - Practices, Novel Therapies and Bioactives
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A Novel Method for Digital Pain Assessment Using Abstract Animations: Human-Centered Design Approach
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An Interactive Pain Application (MServ) Improves Postoperative Pain Management
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Needs and Demands for eHealth Pain Management Interventions in Chronic Pain Patients
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Effect of a Mobile Health App on Adherence to Physical Health Treatment: Retrospective Analysis
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A Review of Chronic Pain and Device Interventions: Benefits and Future Directions
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Technological Interventions for Pain Management
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The Healing Hearts at Home© Mobile Application Usability and Influence on Parental Perceived Stress
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Supporting Communication Vulnerable Children to Communicate Their Pain
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Integrated Platform for the Management of Chronic Low Back Pain
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- Authors
- Thurnheer, S. E., Gravestock, I., Pichierri, G., Steurer, J., & Burgstaller, J. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Thurnheer, Simon E
- Venue
- JMIR mHealth and uHealth
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2018-10-22
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- e11231
- ISSN
- 2291-5222 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6231845
- OpenAlex
- W2897973573
- Cited by
- 160
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 15
- FWCI
- 2.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- JMIR mhealth and uhealth (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Universität Zürich
- Helmut Horten Stiftung
- 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 › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Keywords
- mobile health apps, pain management, mobile application, tablet application, pain intensity, quality of life, app usability, patient acceptance
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