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An investigation of the effect of smartphone-based pain management application on pain intensity and the quality-of-life dimensions in adolescents with chronic pain: a cluster randomized parallel-controlled trial

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Abstract

Introduction

Chronic pain negatively affects adolescents’ quality of life. Therefore, it is important to seek for ways to effectively manage pain, which may, in turn, promote quality-of-life dimensions in this population. However, there are many barriers including geographical distance which prevent most adolescents from receiving an effective treatment for chronic pain. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a smartphone-based pain management application compared with face-to-face pain management program and wait-list control on the pain intensity and quality-of-life dimensions in adolescents with chronic pain.

Methods

This study used a cluster double-blinded randomized parallel-group design with school as the unit of randomization. Participants included were 192 adolescents with chronic pain. The questionnaires (pain intensity and quality of life measuring physical, emotional, social, and school dimensions) were completed at the baseline, immediately at the end of pain management program and three months after the end of the program.

Results

Repeated measures ANOVAs with adjustment for clustering effect showed that there were significant main effects of time on ratings of pain intensity (p < 0.01), physical (p < 0.005), emotional (p < 0.008), social (p < 0.001), and school (p < 0.005) dimensions of quality of life. There was also a significant main effect of group on ratings of emotional (p < 0.001), social (p < 0.009), and school (p < 0.002) dimensions. The interaction of group × time for emotional (p < 0.004), social (p < 0.001), and school (p < 0.005) dimensions of quality of life was statistically significant.

Discussion

The findings suggest that smartphone-based pain management program, which is a highly accessible and cost-effective intervention, may provide benefits similar to a face-to-face intervention and shows promise for being effective on emotional, social, and school dimensions of quality of life in adolescents with different types of chronic pain.

The study was registered within the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20180808040744N2).

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This article is extracted from a Master thesis project presented by Zahra Jahandideh, with financial support from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and under 17736 code number. Hereby, the researchers declare their gratitude to the vice chancellor for research, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and all the adolescents who cooperated in this study.

Funding

This study was funded by the vice chancellor for research, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 17736). The Shiraz University of Medical Sciences did not have a role in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data, and in the writing of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 713451359, Shiraz, Iran

    Maryam Shaygan

  2. Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Zahra Jahandide

  3. Department of e-learning, Virtual School, Center of Excellence for e-Learning in Medical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Nahid zarifsanaiey

Authors
  1. Maryam Shaygan
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  2. Zahra Jahandide
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  3. Nahid zarifsanaiey
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Correspondence to Maryam Shaygan.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was obtained from the local Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (IR.SUMS.REC.1398.091).

Consent to participate

All adolescents and their parents were informed about the study objectives and the voluntary nature of adolescent’s participation. Written informed consent form was signed by all the adolescents and their parents. The data were collected anonymously without name lists.

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Shaygan, M., Jahandide, Z. & zarifsanaiey, N. An investigation of the effect of smartphone-based pain management application on pain intensity and the quality-of-life dimensions in adolescents with chronic pain: a cluster randomized parallel-controlled trial. Qual Life Res 30, 3431–3442 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-021-02891-5

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