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The effectiveness of digital interventions for self-management of chronic pain in employment settings: a systematic review

Blake, Holly; Chaplin, Wendy J; Gupta, Alisha

The effectiveness of digital interventions for self-management of chronic pain in employment settings: a systematic review Thumbnail


Authors

Alisha Gupta



Abstract

Introduction

Chronic pain affects over a quarter of the workforce with high economic burden for individuals, employers, and healthcare services. Access to work-related advice for people with chronic pain is variable. This systematic review aims to explore the effectiveness of workplace-delivered digital interventions for the self-management of chronic pain.

Source of data

MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, Joanna Briggs Institute, Open Science Framework, Epistemonikos and Google Scholar. Articles published between January 2001 and December 2023 were included. Searches were conducted between October 2023 and December 2023.

Areas of agreement

Workplace-delivered digital interventions to support self-management of chronic pain at work may improve pain and health-related quality of life in vocationally active adults. Delivering interventions outside of clinical services, through the workplace setting, may help to reduce inequity in access to work-related advice for people with chronic pain, and ultimately reduce the burden on individuals, employers, and healthcare services. Interventions include mobile apps and web-based programmes.

Areas of controversy
Studies were moderate-to-low quality. Most studies focused on exercise, few considered other aspects of pain self-management. Given the limited evidence in the current literature, consensus on best intervention format and delivery is lacking.

Growing points

More high-quality studies are needed given the heterogeneity in study design, interventions, and outcome measures.

Areas timely for developing research

No interventions included advice on work-related adjustments or support. Few studies included work-related outcomes, despite the known impact of pain on work, and work on health.

Citation

Blake, H., Chaplin, W. J., & Gupta, A. (2024). The effectiveness of digital interventions for self-management of chronic pain in employment settings: a systematic review. British Medical Bulletin, 151(1), 36-48. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldae007

Journal Article Type Review
Acceptance Date Jun 18, 2024
Online Publication Date Jul 7, 2024
Publication Date 2024-09
Deposit Date Jun 20, 2024
Publicly Available Date Jul 8, 2025
Journal British Medical Bulletin
Print ISSN 0007-1420
Electronic ISSN 1471-8391
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 151
Issue 1
Pages 36-48
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldae007
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/36299064
Publisher URL https://academic.oup.com/bmb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bmb/ldae007/7708787

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