Evaluation of Digital Technologies Tailored to Support Young People's Self-Management of Musculoskeletal Pain: Mixed Methods Study

Helen Slater, Jennifer N Stinson, Joanne E Jordan, Jason Chua, Ben Low, Chitra Lalloo, Quynh Pham, Joseph A Cafazzo, Andrew M Briggs, Helen Slater, Jennifer N Stinson, Joanne E Jordan, Jason Chua, Ben Low, Chitra Lalloo, Quynh Pham, Joseph A Cafazzo, Andrew M Briggs

Abstract

Background: Digital technologies connect young people with health services and resources that support their self-care. The lack of accessible, reliable digital resources tailored to young people with persistent musculoskeletal pain is a significant gap in the health services in Australia. Recognizing the intense resourcing required to develop and implement effective electronic health (eHealth) interventions, the adaptation of extant, proven digital technologies may improve access to pain care with cost and time efficiencies.

Objective: This study aimed to test the acceptability and need for adaptation of extant digital technologies, the painHEALTH website and the iCanCope with Pain app, for use by young Australians with musculoskeletal pain.

Methods: A 3-phased, mixed methods evaluation was undertaken from May 2019 to August 2019 in Australia. Young people aged 15 to 25 years with musculoskeletal pain for >3 months were recruited. Phases were sequential: (1) phase 1, participant testing (3 groups, each of n=5) of co-designed website prototypes compared with a control website (painHEALTH), with user tasks mapped to eHealth quality and engagement criteria; (2) phase 2, participants' week-long use of the iCanCope with Pain app with engagement data captured using a real-time analytic platform (daily check-ins for pain, interference, sleep, mood, physical activity, and energy levels; goal setting; and accessing resources); and (3) phase 3, semistructured interviews were conducted to gain insights into participants' experiences of using these digital technologies.

Results: Fifteen young people (12/15, 80% female; mean age 20.5 [SD 3.3] years; range 15-25 years) participated in all 3 phases. The phase 1 aggregated group data informed the recommendations used to guide 3 rapid cycles of prototype iteration. Adaptations included optimizing navigation, improving usability (functionality), and enhancing content to promote user engagement and acceptability. In phase 2, all participants checked in, with the highest frequency of full check-ins attributed to pain intensity (183/183, 100.0%), pain interference (175/183, 95.6%), and mood (152/183, 83.1%), respectively. Individual variability was evident for monitoring progress with the highest frequency of history views for pain intensity (51/183, 32.3%), followed by pain interference (24/183, 15.2%). For the goals set feature, 87% (13/15) of participants set a total of 42 goals covering 5 areas, most frequently for activity (35/42, 83%). For phase 3, metasynthesis of qualitative data highlighted that these digital tools were perceived as youth-focused and acceptable. A total of 4 metathemes emerged: (1) importance of user-centered design to leverage user engagement; (2) website design (features) promoting user acceptability and engagement; (3) app functionality supporting self-management; and (4) the role of wider promotion, health professional digital prescriptions, and strategies to ensure longer-term engagement.

Conclusions: Leveraging extant digital tools, with appropriate user-informed adaptations, can help to build capacity tailored to support young people's self-management of musculoskeletal pain.

Keywords: adolescent; eHealth; mHealth; mobile phone; musculoskeletal pain; self-management; smartphone.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: HS, AMB, J Chua, and BL were involved in the co-design, development, implementation, and evaluation of painHEALTH; JEJ was involved in the evaluation of painHEALTH. JNS, CL, and J Cafazzo were involved in the co-design and evaluation of the iCanCope with Pain app; QP, J Cafazzo, JNS, and CL were involved in the co-design, development, and evaluation of APEEE. Grant funding for this project supported the research activities of J Chua, BL, and JEJ and was administered by Curtin University. The remaining authors (HS, JNS, JEJ, J Chua, CL, BL, QP, J Cafazzo, and AMB) have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

©Helen Slater, Jennifer N Stinson, Joanne E Jordan, Jason Chua, Ben Low, Chitra Lalloo, Quynh Pham, Joseph A Cafazzo, Andrew M Briggs. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 05.06.2020.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A 3-phased approach to the user testing was adopted, with all participants undertaking user testing of website prototypes (phase 1), pain app user testing (phase 2), and semistructured interviews on their experiences of using these digital technologies (phase 3).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Screenshots of the 2 prototype websites: to the left, the round, soft version is shown, and to the right, the geometric version.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Individual-level data are shown for participants 1 to 15 (vertical axis). Relative user engagement (horizontal axis, proportional frequencies, and ranges for each domain) is presented across 4 key domains: (1) total (full) check-ins (blue), range 2-17; (2) history views (bright orange), range 0-38; (3) goals set (gray), 0-11; and (4) library articles accessed (light orange), range 0-11. Note that it is the variable relative engagement of each individual with the features of the app.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Graphic summary of metathemes and themes derived from qualitative interviews. Metathemes were as follows: user-centered digital design (orange), website design promoting engagement and acceptability (blue), app functionality to support self-care (green), and leveraging uptake of digital tools (yellow).

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