Reducing opioid use for chronic pain with mobile health interventions: a systematic scoping review

This systematic scoping review explores the extent and characteristics of research on mobile health (mHealth) interventions for reducing opioid use in chronic pain management. A comprehensive search was run on eight major bibliographic databases (e.g., PubMed) as well as grey literature (e.g., clinical trials registries). Each record was screened by two independent reviewers. Studies were included if they investigated an mHealth intervention for adults with chronic pain and reported opioid use as an outcome (primary or secondary). Data of the study characteristics and results (if available) were extracted and analysed descriptively. Out of 3097 records, 25 (11 published studies, 14 protocols) were included. The studies were from five countries and conducted between 2009-2023. mHealth Interventions included mobile applications (20), text messaging (4), and interactive voice response (1). In about half of the studies (13), taking opioids was an eligibility criterion. In four studies, interventions were specifically designed to support tapering. Studies with published results concluded that the mHealth interventions are acceptable to participants (9) and generally feasible (6). This systematic scoping review shows that there is a growing interest in research investigating mHealth interventions to support people with chronic pain tapering opioids. Current research mostly investigated mobile applications designed for chronic pain management with opioids use as a secondary outcome. mHealth interventions specifically designed to support opioids tapering are emerging. Available results show that mHealth interventions are acceptable, feasible, and potentially efficacious for patients with chronic pain tapering opioids.