Digital Health in Pain Management

Pain is defined by the International Pain Society (IASP) as “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” An estimated 1 in 5 people globally experience some form of chronic pain. In the late stages of cancer, it is estimated that 2 out of 3 people experience moderate to severe pain, emphasizing the interest and importance of pain management. While standard subjective assessment tools, and pharmacology treatments linked to them, are a good toolkit for Pain management, major gaps remain in the care of patients. Barriers to managing pain include measurement tools, subjective assessment, non-standardized approaches, and psycho-social factors. These barriers impact pain management access and efficacy, ultimately hampering the treatment and management of one of the most pervasive health burdens. Digital health is an opportunity to address these challenges if implemented in a rigorous, systematic, and inclusive way.

This special issue intends to consolidate recent research and applications in digital health (broadly defined) interventions and applications in pain management. Specifically, the research consolidation will endeavor to expand the field of pain management theory and practice to include digital health methodologies. The focus will be on aligning to the principles of digital health as a means to ensure enhanced pain management efficacy, an extension of pain management research using digital applications, and the integration of digital health pain management techniques into health care settings. An emphasis on cost efficiency, usability, and inclusion will be taken.

We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following:
• Digital health interventions in pain management demonstrating physiological and/or psycho-social impacts
• The contribution of digital health pain management methodologies to traditional pain management protocols and/or pain management models
• Application of digital health methods of pain management to real-world environments, with a focus on:
- Original research on Digital Solution applications in the pain field
- Cost-benefit analyses of digital health methodologies
- Socio-cultural factors influencing digital pain management interventions and adoption
- Suitability of digital health methodologies for resource-constrained environments
- Lessons learned and fundamental enhancements to digital health pain management from the Covid-19 pandemic
• Extension of digital health methods with potential for the area of pain management
• Directions and protocols for future research.