Patients' Experiences of Digital Health Interventions for the Self-Management of Chronic Pain : Protocol for a Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis

©Ashleigh Main, Haruno McCartney, Maryam Ibrar, Harleen Kaur Rai, Fiona Muirhead, Alexandra Mavroeidi, Roma Maguire. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 07.03.2024..

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is a highly prevalent condition that requires multidisciplinary treatment. However, in the United Kingdom, access to specialist pain clinics where patients can receive medical multidisciplinary treatment is limited, and provision varies between health boards. As such, self-management of chronic pain using digital tools has been gaining traction recently, but evidence of its effectiveness from clinical-based trials focuses mainly on quantitative outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aims to identify, appraise, and synthesize qualitative evidence on patients' experiences with digital health interventions (DHIs) for the management of chronic pain.

METHODS: This systematic review will consider qualitative and mixed methods studies that explore the experience of patients (aged 18 years and older) with chronic pain engaging in DHIs to manage their pain. MEDLINE Ovid, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases will be searched for published studies. The systematic review will be conducted in accordance with the ENTREQ (Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research) guidelines. Following the 3-step thematic synthesis methodology of Thomas and Harden, titles and abstracts will be screened by 2 independent reviewers (AM and HM), and a third reviewer (MI or FM) will resolve any conflict that arises before the full-text screening. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist tool will be used to critically appraise the included studies. The extracted data will be imported to NVivo (QSR International), where thematic synthesis will be used to derive analytical themes from the included studies.

RESULTS: Themes that encapsulate the patient experience will be identified from qualitative evidence, and these themes will shed light on the perceived benefits and disadvantages, usability, acceptability, and the overall impact digital tools can have on the lives of those with chronic pain.

CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review will identify, appraise, and synthesize the overall experience of patients engaging in DHI to manage a diverse range of chronic pain conditions. By elaborating the patient experience through qualitative analysis, the findings from this review will enhance our current understanding of the experiences of patients with chronic pain using digital tools for the self-management of their pain and highlight what person-centered elements are essential for future DHI development.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42023445100; http://tinyurl.com/4z77khfs.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/52469.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:13

Enthalten in:

JMIR research protocols - 13(2024) vom: 07. März, Seite e52469

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Main, Ashleigh [VerfasserIn]
McCartney, Haruno [VerfasserIn]
Ibrar, Maryam [VerfasserIn]
Rai, Harleen Kaur [VerfasserIn]
Muirhead, Fiona [VerfasserIn]
Mavroeidi, Alexandra [VerfasserIn]
Maguire, Roma [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Chronic pain
Digital health
Digital health intervention
Digital tool
EHealth
Experience
Journal Article
MHealth
Pain-management
Patient experiences
Patients' experiences
Person-centered
Protocol
Protocol.
Self-management
Systematic review
Thematic synthesis

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 24.03.2024

published: Electronic

Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE

doi:

10.2196/52469

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369414527