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Hogan TP, Etingen B, McMahon N, Bixler FR, Am L, Wacks RE, Shimada SL, Reilly ED, Frisbee KL, Smith BM. Understanding Adoption and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Mobile App for Chronic Pain Management Among US Military Veterans: Pre-Post Mixed Methods Evaluation. JMIR Form Res 2022; 6:e33716. [PMID: 35049515 PMCID: PMC8814923 DOI: 10.2196/33716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Revised: 10/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The Veterans Health Administration Pain Coach mobile health app was developed to support veterans with chronic pain. Objective Our objective was to evaluate early user experiences with the Pain Coach app and preliminary impacts of app use on pain-related outcomes. Methods Following a sequential, explanatory, mixed methods design, we mailed surveys to veterans at 2 time points with an outreach program in between and conducted semistructured interviews with a subsample of survey respondents. We analyzed survey data using descriptive statistics among veterans who completed both surveys and examined differences in key outcomes using paired samples t tests. We analyzed semistructured interview data using thematic analysis. Results Of 1507 veterans invited and eligible to complete the baseline survey, we received responses from 393 (26.1%). These veterans received our outreach program; 236 (236/393, 60.1%) completed follow-up surveys. We conducted interviews with 10 app users and 10 nonusers. Among survey respondents, 10.2% (24/236) used Pain Coach, and 58% (14/24) reported it was easy to use, though interviews identified various app usability issues. Veterans who used Pain Coach reported greater pain self-efficacy (mean 23.1 vs mean 16.6; P=.01) and lower pain interference (mean 34.6 vs mean 31.8; P=.03) after (vs before) use. The most frequent reason veterans reported for not using the app was that their health care team had not discussed it with them (96/212, 45.3%). Conclusions Our findings suggest that future efforts to increase adoption of Pain Coach and other mobile apps among veterans should include health care team endorsement. Our findings regarding the impact of Pain Coach use on outcomes warrant further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy P Hogan
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Bella Etingen
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Healthcare, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital, Hines, IL, United States
| | - Nicholas McMahon
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States
| | - Felicia R Bixler
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Healthcare, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital, Hines, IL, United States
| | - Linda Am
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States
| | - Rachel E Wacks
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States
| | - Stephanie L Shimada
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.,Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Science, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Erin D Reilly
- Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Social and Community Reintegration Research (SoCRR), Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States
| | - Kathleen L Frisbee
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Office of Connected Care, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Bridget M Smith
- eHealth Partnered Evaluation Initiative, Veterans Affairs Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, United States.,Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Healthcare, Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital, Hines, IL, United States.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
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