mHealth for pediatric chronic pain: state of the art and future directions

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic pain conditions are common among children and engender cascading effects across social, emotional, and behavioral domains for the child and family. Mobile health (mHealth) describes the practice of delivering healthcare via mobile devices and may be an ideal solution to increase access and reach of evidence-based behavioral health interventions. Areas Covered:The aim of this narrative review is to present a state-of-the-art overview of evidence-based mHealth efforts within the field of pediatric chronic pain and consider new and promising directions for study. Given the nascent nature of the field, published mHealth interventions in all stages of development are discussed. Literature was identified through a nonsystematic search in PubMed and Google Scholar, and a review of reference lists of papers that *

Best practices for virtual care to support youth with chronic pain and their families: a rapid systematic review to inform health care and policy during COVID-19 and beyond

“…Furthermore, the added psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic is present 59 such that virtual psychological treatment of mental health of children and adolescents is also an identified priority. 4 , 36 Notably, the use of a variety of information technologies is covered in this review (eg, email, apps, websites, and videoconference platforms); however, as the evidence develops for virtual or augmented reality for pediatric chronic pain, specific additional considerations may be needed, 27 , 60 , 81 particularly to address the challenges posed by remote physical therapies. There is also further need to address the challenges related to virtual physical examinations for pain.…”

“…To address this, our group is seeking input regarding the best practices for virtual care identified here with specific groups at-risk for inequities in chronic pain care, 1 , 23 including Black youth living with sickle cell disease, 40 , 77 indigenous youth with chronic pain, 45 , 50 , 83 and youth with medical complexities 6 and their families. Stepped care approaches to chronic pain care are increasingly recommended, 2 , 19 , 60 as are potential hub-and-spoke models, 28 to reach rural and remote communities.…”

Evaluating Telehealth Implementation in the Context of Pediatric Chronic Pain Treatment during COVID-19

“…Such within-clinic findings may help to elucidate potentially meaningful areas for further inquiry. Routinely collecting clinical registry data is well-aligned with the increasing call for precision medicine practices in pediatric pain [ 44 ], and healthcare [ 45 ], more broadly, which process patient data (e.g., genetics, disease markers, lifestyle, and psychosocial indices) using healthcare analytics to classify patients into subgroups that guide evidence-based and targeted intervention.…”

“…Harnessing the strengths of digital health technology may, in part, be primed to address current limitations of the field. Although multiple research priorities remain with regard to the integration of evidence-based chronic pain treatment and digital health technology [ 44 , 51 ], it is clear that one largescale impact of the pandemic on healthcare has been a worldwide expansion of telehealth. This rapid growth inherently generates opportunity to advance the science of multidisciplinary virtual care that transcends the COVID-19 crisis.…”

Engagement during a Mixed In-Person and Remotely Delivered Psychological Intervention for Youth with Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders and Anxiety

“…Interestingly, the degree of overall web tool use (as defined by low, moderate, and high use) did not predict response to the ADAPT treatment. These findings are important as the demand for psychological treatment approaches for pediatric pain and anxiety that include remote interactions with live providers and self-paced web support tools will only continue to grow in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic [39,40].…”