User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening Trials
BackgroundPatient outcomes and experience during a Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) screening trial can have a significant effect on whether to proceed with long-term, permanent implantation of an SCS device for the treatment of chronic pain. Enhancing the ability to track and a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2022-03-01
|
| Series: | JMIR Human Factors |
| Online Access: | https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2022/1/e35134 |
| _version_ | 1797735209290956800 |
|---|---|
| author | Jennifer M Lee Rex Woon Mandy Ramsum Daniel S Halperin Roshini Jain |
| author_facet | Jennifer M Lee Rex Woon Mandy Ramsum Daniel S Halperin Roshini Jain |
| author_sort | Jennifer M Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundPatient outcomes and experience during a Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) screening trial can have a significant effect on whether to proceed with long-term, permanent implantation of an SCS device for the treatment of chronic pain. Enhancing the ability to track and assess patients during this initial trial evaluation offers the potential for improved understanding regarding the suitability of permanent device implantation as well as identification of the SCS-based neurostimulative modalities and parameters that may provide substantial analgesia in a patient-specific manner.
ObjectiveIn this report, we aimed to describe a preliminary, real-world assessment of a new, real time tracking, smart, device-based digital app used by patients with chronic pain undergoing trial screening for SCS therapy.
MethodsThis is a real-world, retrospective evaluation of 13,331 patients diagnosed with chronic pain who used the new “mySCS” mobile app during an SCS screening trial. The app design is health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA)-compliant and compatible with most commercially available smartphones (eg, Apple, iPhone, and Android). The app enables tracking of user-inputted health-related responses (ie, pain relief, activity level, and sleep quality) in addition to personal trial goals and a summary of overall experience during the SCS trial. A deidentified, aggregate analysis of user engagement, user-submitted responses, and overall trial success was conducted.
ResultsWhen provided the opportunity, the percentage of users who engaged with the tracking app for ≥50% of the time during their trial was found to be 64.43% (n=8589). Among the 13,331 patients who used the app, 58.24% (n=7764) entered a trial goal. Most patients underwent SCS screening with a trial duration of at least 7 days (n=7739, 58.05%). Of those patients who undertook a 7-day SCS trial, 62.30% (n=3456) engaged the app for 4 days or more. In addition, among all who submitted descriptive responses using the app, health-related improvements were reported by 77.84% (n=10,377) of patients who reached day 3 of the screening phase assessment and by 83.04% (n=11,070) of those who reached trial completion. A trial success rate of 91% was determined for those who used the app (versus 85% success rate for nonusers).
ConclusionsData from this initial, real-world examination of a mobile, digital-health–based tracking app (“mySCS”), as used during the SCS screening phase, demonstrate that substantial patient engagement can be achieved while also providing for the acquisition of more real time patient-outcome measures that may help facilitate improved SCS trial success. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:55:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-927b9eb43fac4cb3bff0bd09a34a04d8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2292-9495 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:55:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Human Factors |
| spelling | doaj.art-927b9eb43fac4cb3bff0bd09a34a04d82023-08-28T21:08:18ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Human Factors2292-94952022-03-0191e3513410.2196/35134User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening TrialsJennifer M Leehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2737-8017Rex Woonhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4961-4180Mandy Ramsumhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8277-4525Daniel S Halperinhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3359-4434Roshini Jainhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6467-781X BackgroundPatient outcomes and experience during a Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) screening trial can have a significant effect on whether to proceed with long-term, permanent implantation of an SCS device for the treatment of chronic pain. Enhancing the ability to track and assess patients during this initial trial evaluation offers the potential for improved understanding regarding the suitability of permanent device implantation as well as identification of the SCS-based neurostimulative modalities and parameters that may provide substantial analgesia in a patient-specific manner. ObjectiveIn this report, we aimed to describe a preliminary, real-world assessment of a new, real time tracking, smart, device-based digital app used by patients with chronic pain undergoing trial screening for SCS therapy. MethodsThis is a real-world, retrospective evaluation of 13,331 patients diagnosed with chronic pain who used the new “mySCS” mobile app during an SCS screening trial. The app design is health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA)-compliant and compatible with most commercially available smartphones (eg, Apple, iPhone, and Android). The app enables tracking of user-inputted health-related responses (ie, pain relief, activity level, and sleep quality) in addition to personal trial goals and a summary of overall experience during the SCS trial. A deidentified, aggregate analysis of user engagement, user-submitted responses, and overall trial success was conducted. ResultsWhen provided the opportunity, the percentage of users who engaged with the tracking app for ≥50% of the time during their trial was found to be 64.43% (n=8589). Among the 13,331 patients who used the app, 58.24% (n=7764) entered a trial goal. Most patients underwent SCS screening with a trial duration of at least 7 days (n=7739, 58.05%). Of those patients who undertook a 7-day SCS trial, 62.30% (n=3456) engaged the app for 4 days or more. In addition, among all who submitted descriptive responses using the app, health-related improvements were reported by 77.84% (n=10,377) of patients who reached day 3 of the screening phase assessment and by 83.04% (n=11,070) of those who reached trial completion. A trial success rate of 91% was determined for those who used the app (versus 85% success rate for nonusers). ConclusionsData from this initial, real-world examination of a mobile, digital-health–based tracking app (“mySCS”), as used during the SCS screening phase, demonstrate that substantial patient engagement can be achieved while also providing for the acquisition of more real time patient-outcome measures that may help facilitate improved SCS trial success.https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2022/1/e35134 |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer M Lee Rex Woon Mandy Ramsum Daniel S Halperin Roshini Jain User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening Trials JMIR Human Factors |
| title | User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening Trials |
| title_full | User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening Trials |
| title_fullStr | User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening Trials |
| title_full_unstemmed | User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening Trials |
| title_short | User Engagement and Assessment of Treatment Effectiveness in Patients Using a Novel Digital mHealth App During Spinal Cord Stimulation Screening Trials |
| title_sort | user engagement and assessment of treatment effectiveness in patients using a novel digital mhealth app during spinal cord stimulation screening trials |
| url | https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2022/1/e35134 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jennifermlee userengagementandassessmentoftreatmenteffectivenessinpatientsusinganoveldigitalmhealthappduringspinalcordstimulationscreeningtrials AT rexwoon userengagementandassessmentoftreatmenteffectivenessinpatientsusinganoveldigitalmhealthappduringspinalcordstimulationscreeningtrials AT mandyramsum userengagementandassessmentoftreatmenteffectivenessinpatientsusinganoveldigitalmhealthappduringspinalcordstimulationscreeningtrials AT danielshalperin userengagementandassessmentoftreatmenteffectivenessinpatientsusinganoveldigitalmhealthappduringspinalcordstimulationscreeningtrials AT roshinijain userengagementandassessmentoftreatmenteffectivenessinpatientsusinganoveldigitalmhealthappduringspinalcordstimulationscreeningtrials |