ArticleJMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies2017
Treatment of Low Back Pain with a Digital Multidisciplinary Pain Treatment App: Short-Term Results.
Article in JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patients' Experiences of Digital Health Interventions for the Self-Management of Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of 25 Years of Mobile Health Tools for Pain Management in Patients With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Adherence to Telemonitoring by Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Impact of personalized coaching on the use of digital health interventions for movement therapy in rheumatology: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Physical therapy using digital therapeutics in infants with congenital muscular torticollis: a pilot study.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Non-inferiority of hybrid outpatient telerehabilitation for patients with back pain: 3-month follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2024Trial
- Medical App Treatment of Non-Specific Low Back Pain in the 12-month Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial Rise-uP: Where Clinical Superiority Meets Cost Savings.Journal of pain research · 2024Trial
- Digital Treatment of Back Pain versus Standard of Care: The Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial, Rise-uP.Journal of pain research · 2020Trial
- Barriers and facilitators of engagement with app-based pain self-management strategies among chronic pain patients (CPPs).Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Acceptance and use of digital health technologies among physiotherapists in Germany: a web-based cross-sectional survey.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- AI based rehabilitation: the way forward in addressing unmet needs in musculoskeletal disease.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Article
- [Attitudes toward digital tools in pain medicine : Survey of German Pain Society health professional members and members of self-help groups].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2024Article
- Identifying the risk of exercises, recommended by an artificial intelligence for patients with musculoskeletal disorders.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Patients' Experiences of Digital Health Interventions for the Self-Management of Chronic Pain: Protocol for a Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Reviewing the Potential Role of Artificial Intelligence in Delivering Personalized and Interactive Pain Medicine Education for Chronic Pain Patients.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
- Physician perspectives on chronic pain management: barriers and the use of eHealth in the COVID-19 era.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- PosturAll: A Posture Assessment Software for Children.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Availability, Quality, and Evidence-Based Content of mHealth Apps for the Treatment of Nonspecific Low Back Pain in the German Language: Systematic Assessment.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Review
- Exploring mHealth applications for self-management of chronic low back pain: A survey of features and benefits.Heliyon · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEven though modern concepts of disease management of unspecific low back pain (LBP) postulate active participation of patients, this strategy is difficult to adapt unless multidisciplinary pain therapy is applied. Recently, mobile health solutions have proven to be effective aides to foster self-management of many diseases.
objectiveThe objective of this paper was to report on the retrospective short-term results of a digital multidisciplinary pain app for the treatment of LBP.
methodsKaia is a mobile app that digitalizes multidisciplinary pain treatment and is in the market as a medical product class I. For the current study, the data of anonymized Kaia users was retrospectively analyzed. User data were evaluated for 12 weeks regarding duration of use and effect on in-app user reported pain levels, using the numerical rating scale (NRS), depending on whether LBP was classified as acute, subacute, or chronic back pain according to current guidelines.
resultsData of 180 users were available. The mean age of the users was 33.9 years (SD 10.9). Pain levels decreased from baseline NRS 4.8 to 3.75 for all users at the end of the observation period. Users who completed 4, 8, or 12 weeks showed an even more pronounced decrease in pain level NRS (baseline 4.9 [SD 1.7] versus 3.6 [SD 1.5] at 4 weeks; baseline 4.7 [SD 1.8] versus 3.2 [SD [2.0] at 8 weeks; baseline 4.6 [SD 2.2] versus 2.6 [SD 2.0] at 12 weeks). In addition, subgroup analysis of acute, subacute, or chronic classification revealed no significant main effect of group (P>.30) on the reduction of pain. Conclusions: This retrospective study showed that in a pre-selected population of app users, an app digitalizing multidisciplinary rehabilitation for the self-management of LBP reduced user-reported pain levels significantly. The observed effect size was clinically relevant. Ongoing prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will adjust for potential bias and selection effects.
conclusionsThis retrospective study showed that in a pre-selected population of app users, an app digitalizing multidisciplinary rehabilitation for the self-management of LBP reduced user-reported pain levels significantly. The observed effect size was clinically relevant. Ongoing prospective RCTs will adjust for potential bias and selection effects.
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