User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Real-World, Multi-site Trial

BackgroundChronic pain imposes a large burden on individuals and society. A patient-centric digital chronic pain management app called Manage My Pain (MMP) can be used to enhance communication between providers and patients and promote self-management. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study...

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Main Authors: Bhatia, Anuj, Kara, Jamal, Janmohamed, Tahir, Prabhu, Atul, Lebovic, Gerald, Katz, Joel, Clarke, Hance
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2021-03-01
Series:JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Online Access:https://mhealth.jmir.org/2021/3/e26528
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author Bhatia, Anuj
Kara, Jamal
Janmohamed, Tahir
Prabhu, Atul
Lebovic, Gerald
Katz, Joel
Clarke, Hance
author_facet Bhatia, Anuj
Kara, Jamal
Janmohamed, Tahir
Prabhu, Atul
Lebovic, Gerald
Katz, Joel
Clarke, Hance
author_sort Bhatia, Anuj
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundChronic pain imposes a large burden on individuals and society. A patient-centric digital chronic pain management app called Manage My Pain (MMP) can be used to enhance communication between providers and patients and promote self-management. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the real-world engagement of patients in urban and rural settings in Ontario, Canada with the MMP app alongside their standard of care and assess the impact of its usage on clinical outcomes of pain and related mental health. MethodsA total of 246 participants with chronic pain at a rural and 2 urban pain clinics were recruited into this prospective, open-label, exploratory study that compared the use of MMP, a digital health app 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 (nonapp group). Participants completed validated questionnaires on anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, satisfaction, and daily opioid consumption up to 4.5 months after the initial visit (short-term follow-up) 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. ResultsA total of 73.6% (181/246) of the participants agreed to use the app, with 63.4% (111/175) of them using it for at least one month. Individuals who used the app rated lower anxiety (reduction in Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item questionnaire score by 2.10 points, 95% CI –3.96 to –0.24) at short-term follow-up and had a greater reduction in pain catastrophizing (reduction in Pain Catastrophizing Scale score by 5.23 points, 95% CI –9.55 to –0.91) at long-term follow-up relative to patients with pain who did not engage with the MMP app. ConclusionsThe 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. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04762329; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04762329
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spelling doaj.art-16a11789b57043928f69f8c307feba5b2022-12-21T20:18:12ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR mHealth and uHealth2291-52222021-03-0193e2652810.2196/26528User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Real-World, Multi-site TrialBhatia, AnujKara, JamalJanmohamed, TahirPrabhu, AtulLebovic, GeraldKatz, JoelClarke, HanceBackgroundChronic pain imposes a large burden on individuals and society. A patient-centric digital chronic pain management app called Manage My Pain (MMP) can be used to enhance communication between providers and patients and promote self-management. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the real-world engagement of patients in urban and rural settings in Ontario, Canada with the MMP app alongside their standard of care and assess the impact of its usage on clinical outcomes of pain and related mental health. MethodsA total of 246 participants with chronic pain at a rural and 2 urban pain clinics were recruited into this prospective, open-label, exploratory study that compared the use of MMP, a digital health app 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 (nonapp group). Participants completed validated questionnaires on anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, satisfaction, and daily opioid consumption up to 4.5 months after the initial visit (short-term follow-up) 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. ResultsA total of 73.6% (181/246) of the participants agreed to use the app, with 63.4% (111/175) of them using it for at least one month. Individuals who used the app rated lower anxiety (reduction in Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item questionnaire score by 2.10 points, 95% CI –3.96 to –0.24) at short-term follow-up and had a greater reduction in pain catastrophizing (reduction in Pain Catastrophizing Scale score by 5.23 points, 95% CI –9.55 to –0.91) at long-term follow-up relative to patients with pain who did not engage with the MMP app. ConclusionsThe 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. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04762329; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04762329https://mhealth.jmir.org/2021/3/e26528
spellingShingle Bhatia, Anuj
Kara, Jamal
Janmohamed, Tahir
Prabhu, Atul
Lebovic, Gerald
Katz, Joel
Clarke, Hance
User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Real-World, Multi-site Trial
JMIR mHealth and uHealth
title User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Real-World, Multi-site Trial
title_full User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Real-World, Multi-site Trial
title_fullStr User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Real-World, Multi-site Trial
title_full_unstemmed User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Real-World, Multi-site Trial
title_short User Engagement and Clinical Impact of the Manage My Pain App in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Real-World, Multi-site Trial
title_sort user engagement and clinical impact of the manage my pain app in patients with chronic pain a real world multi site trial
url https://mhealth.jmir.org/2021/3/e26528
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