Mobile health (mHealth) applications can track patients' recovery after surgery and have been shown to reduce emergency room visits and hospital readmissions. However, patients first need to use the apps. Made possible by a grant awarded to Patricia Zheng, MD, from the International Pain and Spine Intervention Society, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, found that patients undergoing pain interventions were more likely to sign up to use an mHealth app if it was introduced during an in-person visit.
The team, led by Ted Miclau, MD, is in the process of evaluating the use of an mHealth app in patients undergoing pain management interventions, an area that is less studied than other procedures. Since recruitment and outcome collection represent a substantial part of a research budget, the team wanted to see if a remote workflow could save both time and money.
The researchers found that in-person clinicians were more effective at recruiting patients (95.5%) compared with in-person research assistants (RAs) (85.7%) and remote RAs (25.6%). Once patients were recruited to use the app, the tool proved to be an effective way to gather survey data regardless of recruitment method. No significant differences were found in survey completion rates among patients, whether they were recruited by in-person clinicians (73.9%), in-person RAs (77.3%), or remote RAs (74.3%).
“We continue to evaluate how different recruitment strategies can pair with a mobile application to alleviate research burdens and optimize patient enrollment and retention in the study of spine injection outcomes,” Dr. Miclau said.
Dr. Miclau will present “Exploring Mobile Health Solutions for Pain Management and Assessment of Spinal Joint Injection Efficacy” on November 22 at 1:45 pm PT during the ASRA Pain Medicine 23rd Annual Pain Medicine Meeting at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. Abstract judges selected the abstract for both a Best of Meeting abstract and a Resident/Fellow Travel Award abstract. Coauthors are Matthew Smuck, Brandon Goenawan, Conor O’Neill, Lyndly Tamura, Peter Wu, Patricia Zheng, and Cara Prideaux.
ASRA Pain Medicine is a professional society of more than 5,000 health care professionals devoted to advancing evidence-based practice of pain medicine across the pain continuum, from acute pain to chronic pain. Our mission is to advance the science and practice of regional anesthesia and pain medicine to improve patient outcomes through research, education, and advocacy. Our vision is to relieve the global burden of pain. We are committed to integrity, innovation, inclusiveness, service, compassion, and wellness. Learn more at www.asra.com.
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