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

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

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