A Mobile Phone Application for Assessing Daily Variation in Pain Location and Pain Intensity in Patients with Urologic Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome: A MAPP Network Study

Bradley A. Erickson*, Ted Herman, Amy E. Hahn, Bayley J. Taple, Michael Bass, R. Brett Lloyd, Siobhan Sutcliffe, James W. Griffith

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Introduction: We created and tested a mobile app that facilitates the ecological momentary assessment of pain intensity and pain location and identifies heterogeneous patient pain phenotypes. Methods: A mobile app was created with patient, clinician and researcher input. A sample of 20 participants with urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome were then asked to complete a 14-day pain assessment using the app. Data were analyzed to assess compliance, usability and the ability for the app to capture variation in pain intensity and pain location. Ecological momentary assessment pain data were then compared to end-of-week pain summary questions to determine construct validity. Results: Mean compliance was 70±8%, higher earlier in the study period (p <0.0005) and better in older individuals (p <0.0001). During the 14-day assessment, 90% of participants reported daily variation in pelvic pain intensity (SD 0.64-3.02; out of 10), 95% reported variation in their nonpelvic pain (SD 0.17-3.63; out of 10) and 100% reported variations in number of sites with pain (SD 0.22-1.44; out of 7). Pelvic pain and nonpelvic pain intensity, as determined by cumulative app scores, were associated with patient reported end-of-week scores; worst pain (rpelvic=0.67; rnonpelvic=0.53) and average pain (rpelvic=0.78; rnonpelvic=0.73). Conclusions: The easy-to-use app captured unique patterns of pain not fully captured by traditional end-of-day/week summary questions or by traditional in-office assessments. Mobile apps for assessing chronic conditions will become increasingly important as telehealth becomes more commonplace.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)189-195
Number of pages7
JournalUrology Practice
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2021

Funding

Funding for the MAPP Research Network was obtained under a cooperative agreement from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Grants DK082370, DK082342, DK082315, DK082344, DK082325, DK082345, DK082333, DK082316, DK103260, DK103277 and DK103271. Research reported in this publication was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Grant Number UL1TR001422. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords

  • data collection
  • ecological momentary assessment
  • mobile applications
  • prostatitis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Urology

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