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Life
Volume 14
Issue 6
10.3390/life14060760
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Open AccessSystematic Review
by Luca Scala SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Gloria Giglioni SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Luca Bertazzoni SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar Francesca Bonetti SciProfiles Scilit Preprints.org Google Scholar 
Luca Scala
, Gloria Giglioni, Luca BertazzoniFrancesca Bonetti
1
Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
2
Physioup—Physiotherapy Practice, 00142 Rome, Italy
3
Asl Roma 3, Department of Rehabilitation, 00122 Rome, Italy
4
Pain in Motion Research Group (PAIN), Vrije Universiteit, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
5
Painlab Studio Osteopatico, 20145 Milan, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Life 2024, 14(6), 760; https://doi.org/10.3390/life14060760
Submission received: 16 April 2024 / Revised: 3 June 2024 / Accepted: 8 June 2024 / Published: 13 June 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chronic Low Back Pain: Symptoms, Pain Mechanisms and Treatment)
Abstract
Smartphone apps for self-management are valuable tools to help manage low back pain (LBP) patients. The purposes of this systematic review were to (a) summarize the available studies on the efficacy of smartphone apps for self-management of LBP and (b) identify free applications available in Italy that offer strategies for LBP self-management and provide a qualitative assessment using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). According to the Prisma Checklist, six bibliographic databases were searched with the keywords ‘low back pain’, ‘mobile application’, ‘smartphone’, and ‘telemedicine’. In total, 852 records were screened, and 16 were included in the systematic review. Of the six RCTs included, four reported a statistically significant decrease in pain in favor of the app group, and two RCTs did not. Only in a non-RCT was there an increase in the disability score. In the application research conducted on mobile stores, we identified and rated 25 applications through MARS. The overall scores ranged from 1.93 to 3.92 for the IOS app and 1.73 to 4.25 for the Play Store app. The findings suggest that few apps meet satisfying quality, content, and functionality criteria for LBP self-management.
Keywords: digital health; mobile health unit; rehabilitation; musculoskeletal diseases
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MDPI and ACS Style
Scala, L.; Giglioni, G.; Bertazzoni, L.; Bonetti, F. The Efficacy of the Smartphone App for the Self-Management of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Their Quality through the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) in Italy. Life 2024, 14, 760. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14060760
AMA Style
Scala L, Giglioni G, Bertazzoni L, Bonetti F. The Efficacy of the Smartphone App for the Self-Management of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Their Quality through the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) in Italy. Life. 2024; 14(6):760. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14060760
Chicago/Turabian Style
Scala, Luca, Gloria Giglioni, Luca Bertazzoni, and Francesca Bonetti. 2024. "The Efficacy of the Smartphone App for the Self-Management of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Their Quality through the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) in Italy" Life 14, no. 6: 760. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14060760
Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Scala, L.; Giglioni, G.; Bertazzoni, L.; Bonetti, F. The Efficacy of the Smartphone App for the Self-Management of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Their Quality through the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) in Italy. Life 2024, 14, 760. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14060760
AMA Style
Scala L, Giglioni G, Bertazzoni L, Bonetti F. The Efficacy of the Smartphone App for the Self-Management of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Their Quality through the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) in Italy. Life. 2024; 14(6):760. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14060760
Chicago/Turabian Style
Scala, Luca, Gloria Giglioni, Luca Bertazzoni, and Francesca Bonetti. 2024. "The Efficacy of the Smartphone App for the Self-Management of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Their Quality through the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) in Italy" Life 14, no. 6: 760. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14060760
Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Life, EISSN 2075-1729, Published by MDPI
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