Study Highlights Acceptance of Pain Management App in Post-Surgical Patients
Toronto General Hospital, part of the University of Health Network, finds that Manage My Pain is an acceptable digital innovation for its patients.
TORONTO, Oct. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers of the University Health Network published a user engagement study of the pain management app, Manage My Pain, in Sage Journals' DIGITAL HEALTH. The app was offered to patients of the Transitional Pain Service at the Toronto General Hospital, which has been ranked as the 4th best hospital by Newsweek. The researchers found that the rates of user registration and retention were favorable compared to those reported by other applications.
Patients are enrolled in the Transitional Pain Service (TPS) following a major surgery such as a transplant. They are provided with a multi-disciplinary approach to pain management to help prevent chronic post-surgical pain and long-term opioid use. Manage My Pain is offered to all patients to self-manage their pain, record their progress, and communicate with their clinical team. The study focused on the willingness of patients to use the app and then evaluated how many went on to register and use the app over a prolonged period. "With the surge in digital solutions, it is important to understand which ones patients will actually use instead of focusing solely on the clinical impact," says Dr. Max Slepian, Clinical Psychologist at the University Health Network and one of the lead authors of the study.
Of the 196 patients who consented to the larger study, 132 (67%) also provided consent to the Manage My Pain component, indicating that they found the app to be an acceptable treatment adjunct, and 119 (61%) went on to complete registration. Of those who used the app, 67.9% and 43.2% continued to use Manage My Pain beyond 30 and 90 days, respectively.
"Given the positive feedback from our patients, we have integrated this digital innovation as standard of care alongside other services in order to improve the self-management component of our comprehensive pain management program," added Dr. Hance Clarke, Director of Pain Services at the Toronto General Hospital and the senior responsible author of the study.
About ManagingLife
ManagingLife is a privately held Corporation based in Toronto, Canada that has developed a digital solution for pain management that combines patient self-management, remote monitoring and analytics to help chronic pain sufferers and practitioners learn more about their condition and better communicate with each other. With its award-winning app, Manage My Pain, ManagingLife works with disability carriers, health plans, pain clinics, and clinical trials to help healthcare professionals better measure and manage their patients' pain and medications. www.managinglife.com
About University Health Network
University Health Network consists of Toronto General, recently ranked the #4 Hospital in the World according to Newsweek Magazine, and Toronto Western Hospital, the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and the Michener Institute of Education at UHN. The scope of research and complexity of cases at University Health Network has made it a national and international source of discovery, education and patient care. It has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. University Health Network is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto. www.uhn.ca
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SOURCE ManagingLife
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