| Literature DB >> 33928214 |
Alisa J Johnson1, Shreela Palit1, Ellen L Terry1, Osheeca J Thompson1, Keesha Powell-Roach1, Brenda W Dyal2, Margaret Ansell3, Staja Q Booker1.
Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent musculoskeletal condition worldwide. More than 300 million individuals are affected by OA, and pain is the most common and challenging symptom to manage. Although many new advances have led to improved OA-related pain management, smart technology offers additional opportunities to enhance symptom management. This narrative review identifies and describes the current literature focused on smart technology for pain management in individuals with OA. In collaboration with a health sciences librarian, an interdisciplinary team of clinician-scientists searched multiple databases (e.g. PubMed, CINAHL and Embase), which generated 394 citations for review. After inclusion criteria were met, data were extracted from eight studies reporting on varied smart technologies, including mobile health, wearables and eHealth tools to measure or manage pain. Our review highlights the dearth of research in this crucial area, the implications for clinical practice and technology development, and future research needs.Entities:
Keywords: chronic pain; digital technology; mHealth; osteoarthritis; self-management; smart technology
Year: 2021 PMID: 33928214 PMCID: PMC8068316 DOI: 10.1093/rap/rkab021
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Rheumatol Adv Pract ISSN: 2514-1775
Review of included studies (n = 8)
| Type of smart technology | Study design | Population | Findings | Major limitations | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile application, smartphone or tablet | RCT (interventional clinical trial) |
Adults, age ≥18 years | No differences in pain scores between intervention and control groups. Compared with controls, the intervention group used less opiates and more adjuvant analgesics. With continued use of the app (>14 days post-TKR), compared with the control group the active app users had faster reduction of pain score during activity and faster reduction of pain scores at night, less opiate use and more adjuvant analgesic use | Study not blinded; participants knew if they were in the control or intervention group. Small sample size; study was underpowered. Cost effectiveness of app was not investigated | Pronk |
| Wearable technology (bluetooth-powered exercise leg sensors), mobile application, smartphone or tablet | Two-armed RCT |
Adults, age ≥18 years; mean 46 ( |
Primary outcomes: Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) physical function and KOOS Pain both improved significantly more in the intervention group Secondary outcomes: VAS pain, VAS stiffness and surgery chance over 1, 2 and 5 years were all significantly better in the intervention group Digital care programme group had a significantly greater reduction in KOOS Pain compared with the control group | Did not investigate long-term outcomes; not all individuals reported chronic pain; did not evaluate risk factors for dropouts | Mecklenburg |
| Wearable technology (smartwatch), mobile application | Pilot study, focus group |
Adults, age ≥65 years | Evaluation of PROMPT app and smartwatch via focus groups. Themes were coded, and subthemes emerged. Most participants expressed enthusiasm for wearing the smartwatch, despite its weight and lack of other desired features |
Focus group patients were recruited locally and might not represent broader population of older adults; more smartphone ownership Results are based on a single focus group session Only assessed usability with pain reporting | Manini |
| Mobile application, smartphone or tablet | Qualitative study | Family physicians ( | Patient and physician views were very different; patients were concerned about pain and health outcomes, whereas physicians did not feel OA needed to be managed aggressively or proactively | Small sample; did not reach saturation | Barber |
| Mobile application, smartphone or tablet | Qualitative study |
Adults, age ≥65 years | The increasing integration of smartphones and apps into the sphere of chronic disease self-management, coupled with increasing willingness among older people to engage with these technologies, offers opportunities to harness the ability of these modern-day approaches in helping older people manage their pain better | Small sample size, based in Australia, with sampling bias | Bhattarai |
| Wearable technology (orthotics) | Qualitative feasibility |
Adults, age 21–57 years | Participants supported the use of feedback for rehabilitation, screening and evaluation of treatment progress/success purposes. Flexifoot use by patients was encouraged as a self-management tool that might motivate them by setting attainment goals. The data interface should be secure, concise and visually appealing. The measured parameters of Flexifoot, its duration of wear and frequency of data output would all depend on the rationale for its use. The clinicians and patients must collaborate to optimize the use of Flexifoot for long-term monitoring of disease for patient care in clinical practice |
Clinicians were unable to use the device themselves before the interviews, and responses were based on a single demonstration and explanation of the tool Clinicians had a varied level of experience and familiarity with wearable technologies between them, influencing their perspectives | Lin |
| Wearable technology, mobile application | Pilot study |
Adults, age ≥65 years |
Improvements of 1.2 ( mHealth intervention was feasible and acceptable in older adults with sleep disturbance attributable to OA pain | Self-report bias, with no control group, and smartphones were required, which might limit generalizability to a different sample | Zaslavsky |
| Wearable technology | Qualitative study |
Adults, age 45–65 years | Twenty-one patients with knee OA reported positive attitudes to wearable technology on self-management of OA |
Unbalanced gender representation (19 women, 2 men) Participants did not try the wearable technology | Belsi |
app: application; RCT: randomized controlled trial; VAS: visual analog scale.
. 1Smart technology applications for OA
EMA: Ecological Momentary Assessment; EMI: Ecological Momentary Intervention