Currently submitted to: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Jan 7, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Jan 23, 2026 - Mar 20, 2026
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Effectiveness of digital health technology combined with exercise prescription in pain intervention for patients with osteoarthritis: systematic review and meta-analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Objective:
To evaluate the efficacy of digital exercise therapy for pain relief in osteoarthritis (OA) patients.
Methods:
We conducted a systematic search of multiple databases for randomized controlled trials. Pain intensity was analyzed as the standardized mean difference (SMD) using a fixed-effects model in Stata. Methodological quality was assessed with the Cochrane RoB 2 tool.
Results:
Six trials (587 participants) were included. Digital exercise therapy significantly reduced pain (SMD = -0.28, 95% CI: -0.44 to -0.11; P = 0.001) with low heterogeneity (I² = 22.4%). Sensitivity analyses supported robustness. Conclusion: Digital exercise therapy significantly alleviates pain in OA. Despite limitations inherent to behavioral trials, it represents a viable and accessible treatment. Further large-scale, long-term trials are needed.
Objective:
Objective:
To evaluate the efficacy of digital exercise therapy for pain relief in osteoarthritis (OA) patients.
Methods:
Methods:
We conducted a systematic search of multiple databases for randomized controlled trials. Pain intensity was analyzed as the standardized mean difference (SMD) using a fixed-effects model in Stata. Methodological quality was assessed with the Cochrane RoB 2 tool.
Results:
Results:
Six trials (587 participants) were included. Digital exercise therapy significantly reduced pain (SMD = -0.28, 95% CI: -0.44 to -0.11; P = 0.001) with low heterogeneity (I² = 22.4%). Sensitivity analyses supported robustness.
Conclusions:
Conclusion: Digital exercise therapy significantly alleviates pain in OA. Despite limitations inherent to behavioral trials, it represents a viable and accessible treatment. Further large-scale, long-term trials are needed. Clinical Trial: PROSPERO (CRD420251082911).
Citation
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