A Mobile Health + Health Coaching Application for the Management of Chronic Non-cancer Pain in Older Adults: Results from a Pilot Randomized Controlled Study

Introduction: The rapid growth of mobile health (mHealth) devices holds substantial potential for improving care and care outcomes in aging adults with chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP), however, research evaluating these devices in older adults remains limited.

Objective: To ascertain the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an mHealth intervention (Mymee) that combines symptom, diet, and behavior tracking a smartphone application with data analytics to detect associations between symptoms and lifestyle factors along with weekly health coaching sessions to mitigate CNCP in adults 55 years of age and older.

Methods: Participants ( = 31) in this pilot study were recruited from one primary care practice in New York City and randomized to an intervention [app + up to 12 health coaching sessions (scheduled approximately once weekly) + usual care] or a control (app + usual care) arm. Feasibility measures included recruitment (proportion of eligible persons who enrolled) and retention rates (proportion of subjects completing a follow-up assessment) as well as adherence with the weekly coaching sessions and logging daily data on the app. Efficacy outcomes (e.g., pain intensity, self-efficacy, disability, anxiety) were assessed at baseline and follow-up (~16 weeks after baseline). Descriptive statistics were obtained and general linear mixed models used for primary analyses.

Results: Participants had a mean (standard deviation) age of 67.32 (9.17) and were mostly female (61%). Feasibility outcomes were mixed as evidenced by recruitment and retention rates of 74% and 65%, respectively. The mean number of weekly coaching sessions attended by intervention participants was 6.05 (SD = 5.35), while the average number of days logging data on the app was 44.82 (34.02). We found a consistent trend in favor of the intervention, where pain intensity, affect, and quality of life measures improved considerably more among intervention (vs. control) participants. Finally, the proportion of participants with GAD-7 scores at follow up decreased by 0.35 to 0, whereas controls did not change, a significant effect in favor of the intervention ( = 0.02).

Conclusions: This study supports the need for future research that seeks to enhance feasibility outcomes and confirm the efficacy of the Mymee intervention among aging adults with CNCP.