Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2020
Date Accepted: Feb 14, 2021
Evaluating User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App: A Real-World Multi-Site Trial in Patients with Chronic Pain
ABSTRACT
Background:
Chronic pain imposes a large burden on individuals and society. A patient-centric digital chronic pain management app called Manage My Pain that incorporates validated questionnaires can be used to enhance communication between providers and patients and promote self management.
Objective:
This study was conducted to evaluate the extent of patient engagement with the app when used in a clinical setting and outcomes of pain-related mental health.
Methods:
246 participants with chronic pain at a rural and two urban pain clinics, were recruited into this prospective, open-label, exploratory study that compared use of MMP, a digital health application for pain that incorporates validated questionnaires and provides patients with summarized reports of their progress in combination with standard care (app group), against data entered on paper-based questionnaires (non-app group). Participants completed validated questionnaires on anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, satisfaction, and daily opioid consumption up to 4.5 months (short-term) and between 4.5 and 7 months after the initial visit (long-term) follow-up. Engagement and clinical outcomes were compared between participants in the two groups.
Results:
74% of the participants agreed to use the app, with 63% of them using it for at least one month. Individuals that used the app rated lower anxiety (reduction in GAD-7 score by 2.10 points, 95% confidence interval [CI] -3.96 - -0.24) at the short-term follow-up and had a greater reduction in pain catastrophizing (reduction in PCS score by 5.23 points, 95% CI -9.55 - -0.91) at the long-term follow-up relative to patients with pain who did not engage with the MMP app.
Conclusions:
The use of MMP by patients with chronic pain is associated with engagement and improvements in self-reported anxiety and pain catastrophizing. Further research is required to understand factors that impact continued engagement and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic pain.
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