JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background Mobile technologies are increasingly being used in health care and public health practice (mHealth) for patient communication, monitoring, and education, and to facilitate adherence to chronic pain management, which is critical to achieving improved pain outcomes, quality of life, and cost-effective health care. Objective We conducted a 25-year systematic review of the literature to evaluate the effectiveness of mHealth interventions in supporting the adherence, usability, feasibility, and acceptability of mHealth interventions in pain management among patients and health care providers. Methods We searched PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science databases for studies assessing the role of mHealth in pain management of chronic musculoskeletal pain from January 1999 through December 2023. Outcomes of interest included effect of mHealth interventions on patient adherence, pain-specific clinical outcomes after intervention, and the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of mHealth tools and platforms in chronic pain management among target end-users. Results Totally 89 articles met all inclusion criteria. Mobile app was the most commonly used mHealth tool in (87.6%, 78/89) of studies. Usability, feasibility, and acceptability or patient preferences for mHealth interventions were assessed in 25.8% (23/89) of studies and observed to be generally high. A total of 30.3% (27/89) studies employed randomized controlled trial (RCT) or cohort or pilot methods to assess impact on patients’ adherence, and significant improvements were observed in 25 of those studies (92.6%, 25/27). Of the RCTs that measured the effect of mHealth on CMP-specific clinical outcomes, significant differences between groups were reported in 27 studies (93.1%, 27/29). Conclusions There is big potential for mHealth tools to better facilitate adherence to chronic pain management, and the current evidence supporting its effectiveness is generally high. Further research should focus on the cost-effectiveness of mHealth intervention for better incorporating these tools into healthcare practices.