e-Health Multimodal Interventions for Older Adults with Chronic Non-Cancer Pain: A Scoping Review Protocol

BackgroundChronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is one of the most prevalent health conditions among the elderly, with a considerable impact on the persons physical, mental and social functioning. The use of a bio-psycho-social multidisciplinary approach has become widely recommended for more likely effective management of chronic pain. In recent years, the growing development and application of e-Health (or digital health) within pain medicine has been showing encouraging results. However, the application of such technologies in the field of pain management among elderly is yet understudied, particularly in regard to the potential impacts of multimodal therapies (i.e., interventions which integrate a physical and a psychological component) provided via digital devices. ObjectiveThe overall aim of this scoping review is to systematically map the existing literature about the e-Health multimodal interventions designed for older adults with CNCP. MethodsMultiple electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, Web of Science, PsycINFO) will be searched for relevant articles to August 2023. The review will adhere to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and will utilize the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) reporting guideline and checklist. All eligible studies will be evaluated against the 16-item Quality Assessment Tool (QATSDD). The extracted information will be presented in tabular form along with a narrative summary that is in line with the scoping reviews objective.