Presented at the 2013 AAPM Annual Meeting « Back

A Review of Pain-Related Smartphone Applications

Lorraine S. Wallace, PhD, lorraine.wallace@osumc.edu¹, (1) Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Statement of the Problem: The smartphone, combining mobile communication and computation, can perform a plethora of tasks. The purpose of this study was to systematically review English-language pain-related smartphone applications ("apps") aimed at patients. Materials and Methods: In July 2012, major smartphone official app stores (Android, Blackberry, and iPhone) were searched from the United States. "Pain" was entered into the search-bar of each "app" store. All identified apps were examined and included within the review if they focused on pain management and/or education. Each pain-related app was evaluated on the following criteria: commercial information (release date, cost, and file size), condition- and treatment-specific information (purpose and key features), and documentation of medical professional involvement in design and/or content. Results: A total of unique 222 apps met inclusion criteria, with the majority available through the iPhone (79.3%). Release date for reviewed apps ranged from June 10, 2009 to July 5, 2012. While cost of "apps" ranged from $0.00 to $89.99, 92.3% were ≤$4.99. App file size ranged from 102.4 KB to 1095.7 MB (median=4.6 MB). The majority of apps focused on general and/or chronic pain (50.0%) and had no documented medical professional involvement in design and/or content (64.9%). Pain diaries, exercises, and coping strategies were common app features. Conclusions: While a wide variety of pain-related apps are available, there is little evidence of medical professional involvement in their design and/or content. Medical professional guidance is needed to ensure that evidence-based pain management apps are developed and validated in the future. References: 1) Mosa AS, Yoo I, Sheets L. A systematic review of healthcare applications for smartphones. BMC Medical Informed Decision Making. 2012;12:67. 2) O’Neill SO, Brady RR. Colorectal smartphone apps: opportunities and risks. Colorectal Disease. 2012;14:e530-e534. 3) Rosser BA, Eccleston C. Smartphone applications for pain management. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. 2011;17:308-312.

Funding: None