RT journal article
T1 mHealth Intervention for Improving Pain, Quality of Life, and Functional Disability in Patients With Chronic Pain: Systematic Review
A1 Moreno Ligero, Marta
A1 Moral Muñoz, José Antonio
A1 Salazar Couso, Alejandro
A1 Failde Martínez, Inmaculada
A2 BiomedicinaBiotecnología y Salud Pública
A2 Enfermería y Fisioterapia
A2 Estadística e Investigación Operativa
K1 chronic pain mHealth
K1 digital intervention
K1 disabilities
K1 disability
K1 functionality
K1 health app
K1 health outcome
K1 library science
K1 mobile app
K1 mobile health
K1 monitoring
K1 pain intensity
K1 quality of life
K1 randomized controlled trial
AB Background: Chronic pain (CP) is 1 of the leading causes of disability worldwide and represents a significant burden onindividual, social, and economic aspects. Potential tools, such as mobile health (mHealth) systems, are emerging for theself-management of patients with CP.Objective: A systematic review was conducted to analyze the effects of mHealth interventions on CP management, based onpain intensity, quality of life (QoL), and functional disability assessment, compared to conventional treatment or nonintervention.Methods: PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines were followed to conducta systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PhysiotherapyEvidence Database (PEDro) databases from February to March 2022. No filters were used. The eligibility criteria were RCTs ofadults (≥18 years old) with CP, intervened with mHealth systems based on mobile apps for monitoring pain and health-relatedoutcomes, for pain and behavioral self-management, and for performing therapeutic approaches, compared to conventionaltreatments (physical, occupational, and psychological therapies; usual medical care; and education) or nonintervention, reportingpain intensity, QoL, and functional disability. The methodological quality and risk of bias (RoB) were assessed using the Checklistfor Measuring Quality, the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence, and the Cochrane RoB 2.0 tool.Results: In total, 22 RCTs, involving 2641 patients with different CP conditions listed in the International Classification ofDiseases 11th Revision (ICD-11), including chronic low back pain (CLBP), chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMSP), chronic neckpain (CNP), unspecified CP, chronic pelvic pain (CPP), fibromyalgia (FM), interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS),irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and osteoarthritis (OA). A total of 23 mHealth systems were used to conduct a variety of CPself-management strategies, among which monitoring pain and symptoms and home-based exercise programs were the mostused. Beneficial effects of the use of mHealth systems in reducing pain intensity (CNP, FM, IC/BPS, and OA), QoL (CLBP,CNP, IBS, and OA), and functional disability (CLBP, CMSP, CNP, and OA) were found. Most of the included studies (18/22,82%) reported medium methodological quality and were considered as highly recommendable; in addition, 7/22 (32%) studieshad a low RoB, 10/22 (45%) had some concerns, and 5/22 (23%) had a high RoB.Conclusions: The use of mHealth systems indicated positive effects for pain intensity in CNP, FM, IC/BPS, and OA; for QoLin CLBP, CNP, IBS, and OA; and for functional disability in CLBP, CMSP, CNP, and OA. Thus, mHealth seems to be an alternative to improving pain-related outcomes and QoL and could be part of multimodal strategies for CP self-management.High-quality studies are needed to merge the evidence and recommendations of the use of mHealth systems for CP management.
PB JMIR Publications
SN 2291-5222
YR 2023
FD 2023-02-02
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31118
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31118
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 21-sep-2026