ArticleJMIR mHealth and uHealth2018
Patient Perceptions of Their Own Data in mHealth Technology-Enabled N-of-1 Trials for Chronic Pain: Qualitative Study.
Article in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- 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
- The Use of Mobile Technologies to Promote Physical Activity and Reduce Sedentary Behaviors in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of Mobile Device-Assisted N-of-1 Trial Participation on Analgesic Prescribing for Chronic Pain: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of general internal medicine · 2020Trial
- Digital N-of-1 trials and their application in experimental physiology.Experimental physiology · 2026Review
- Article
- Mobile App-Supported Self-Management for Chronic Low Back Pain: Realist Evaluation.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- The N-of-1 Trials and where to use them in Rheumatology.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2025Review
- A qualitative study on the facilitators and barriers to adopting the N-of-1 trial methodology as part of clinical practice: potential versus implementation challenges.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2024Article
- "It Attracts Your Eyes and Brain": Refining Visualizations for Shared Decision-Making with Heart Failure Patients.Applied clinical informatics · 2024Article
- Individual Treatment Trials-Do Experts Know and Use This Option to Improve the Treatability of Mucopolysaccharidosis?Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A Useful and Sustainable Role for N-of-1 Trials in the Healthcare Ecosystem.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2022Review
- Evaluation Methods Applied to Digital Health Interventions: What Is Being Used beyond Randomised Controlled Trials?-A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Assessment of a Mobile Health iPhone App for Semiautomated Self-management of Chronic Recurrent Medical Conditions Using an N-of-1 Trial Framework: Feasibility Pilot Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Article
- Personalized Data Science and Personalized (N-of-1) Trials: Promising Paradigms for Individualized Health Care.Harvard data science review · 2022Article
- Bayesian Models for N-of-1 Trials.Harvard data science review · 2022Article
- Conduct and Implementation of Personalized Trials in Research and Practice.Harvard data science review · 2022Article
- Status of N-of-1 Trials in Chronic Pain Management: A Narrative Review.Pain and therapy · 2021Review
- Chronic pain treatment preferences change following participation in N-of-1 trials, but not always in the expected direction.Journal of clinical epidemiology · 2021Observational
- Bayesian structural time series for biomedical sensor data: A flexible modeling framework for evaluating interventions.PLoS computational biology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundN-of-1 (individual comparison) trials are a promising approach for comparing the effectiveness of 2 or more treatments for individual patients; yet, few studies have qualitatively examined how patients use and make sense of their own patient-generated health data (PGHD) in the context of N-of-1 trials.
objectiveThe objective of our study was to explore chronic pain patients' perceptions about the PGHD they compiled while comparing 2 chronic pain treatments and tracking their symptoms using a smartphone N-of-1 app in collaboration with their clinicians.
methodsSemistructured interviews were recorded with 33 patients, a consecutive subset of the intervention group in a primary study testing the feasibility and effectiveness of the Trialist N-of-1 app. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and a descriptive thematic analysis was completed.
resultsPatients were enthusiastic about recording and accessing their own data. They valued sharing data with clinicians but also used their data independently.
conclusionsN-of-1 trials remain a promising approach to evidence-based decision making. Patients appear to value their roles as trial participants but place as much or more importance on the independent use of trial data as on comparative effectiveness results. Future efforts to design patient-centered N-of-1 trials might consider adaptable designs that maximize patient flexibility and autonomy while preserving a collaborative role with clinicians and researchers.
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Registered trials
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