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OP14 Effectiveness of digital health interventions for cancer pain management: a systematic review

rapm · 2025-09-10 · canonical JSON source

9 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Background and Aims Background Cancer-related pain remains a significant clinical burden. Emerging digital health interventions, including mobile applications, virtual reality (VR), and web-based self-management platforms, offer novel approaches to support traditional pain control strategies. Objective: To systematically review the effectiveness of digital health interventions, excluding telemedicine-only strategies, in reducing cancer-related pain.Methods A systematic review was conducted of studies published between 2015 and 2025. Randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies were included if they evaluated mobile apps, VR tools, or web-based interventions targeting pain outcomes. A narrative synthesis was performed due to intervention heterogeneity.Results Eight studies (N=~1100 patients) were included. Mobile apps such as ePAL and AI-based platforms improved pain monitoring, reduced emergency visits, and enhanced analgesic adherence. Pediatric-focused apps significantly reduced home pain scores. VR interventions consistently achieved immediate, meaningful reductions in procedural and chronic pain, with average pain decreases of 1–2 points on a 0–10 scale. Web-based self-management tools enhanced pain coping skills and reduced pain interference in daily activities. Risk of bias was moderate due to self-reporting and lack of blinding.Conclusions Digital health interventions offer effective, scalable adjuncts to cancer pain management. Mobile apps can improve real-time symptom tracking and proactive clinician intervention. VR provides potent, drug-free procedural analgesia. Web-based platforms strengthen coping strategies and self-efficacy. However, long-term sustainability, impact on opioid use reduction, and pediatric applications require further investigation. Digital interventions should be integrated into multimodal cancer pain strategies, supported by rigorous future trials.