Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Sep 1:76:202-14.
doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2016.07.012. Epub 2016 Jul 20.

Pain buddy: A novel use of m-health in the management of children's cancer pain

Michelle A Fortier  1 , Winnie W Chung  2 , Ariana Martinez  3 , Sergio Gago-Masague  4 , Leonard Sender  5
Affiliations

Pain buddy: A novel use of m-health in the management of children's cancer pain

Michelle A Fortier et al. Comput Biol Med. .

Abstract

Background: Over 12,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year in the United States. In addition to symptoms associated with their disease, children undergoing chemotherapy frequently experience significant pain, which is unfortunately often undertreated. The field of m-Health offers an innovative avenue for pain assessment and intervention in the home setting. The current study describes the development and initial evaluation of a tablet-based program, Pain Buddy, aimed to enhance pain management and foster improved quality of life in children ages 8-18 years undergoing cancer treatment.

Methods: An animated avatar-based tablet application was developed using state-of-the-art software. Key aspects of Pain Buddy include daily pain and symptom diaries completed by children, remote monitoring of symptoms by uploading patient's data through internet to a cloud server, cognitive and behavioral skills training, interactive three-dimensional avatars that guide children through the program, and an incentive system to motivate engagement. Twelve children between the ages of 8 and 18 participated in a pilot study of Pain Buddy.

Results: Children were highly satisfied with the program. Pain and appetite disturbances were most frequently endorsed. Symptom trigger alerts to outside providers were largely related to clinically significant pain. Children infrequently used analgesics, and reported using some non-pharmacological pain management strategies.

Conclusion: Pain Buddy appears to be a promising tool to improve pain and symptom management in children undergoing cancer treatment. Results from the current study will inform future improvements to Pain Buddy, in preparation for a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of this innovative treatment.

Keywords: Cancer pain; Health information technology; Pediatric cancer; Quality of life; Symptom management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

None declared for all authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Body map of the adolescent pediatric pain tool in the pain buddy symptom diary.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pain Buddy log on screen.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Pain Buddy cognitive and behavioral skills training menu.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Panda bear and penguin three-dimensional avatars.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Avatar accessory options in the Pain Buddy store.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Background options in the Pain Buddy store.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Pain Buddy infrastructure and data flow.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures. 〈 http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/docume...〉. Published 2012.
    1. Miller E, Jacob E, Hockenberry MJ. Nausea, pain, fatigue, and multiple symptoms in hospitalized children with cancer. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2011;38(5):E382–E393. doi: 10.1188/11.ONF.E382-E393. X04063486U603578 [pii] - DOI - PubMed
    1. Van Cleve L, Bossert E, Beecroft P, Adlard K, Alvarez O, Savedra MC. The Pain Experience of Children With Leukemia During the First Year After Diagnosis. Nurs Res. 2004;53(1):1–10. 〈 http://journals.lww.com/nursingresearchonline/Fulltext/2004/01000/The_Pa...〉. - PubMed
    1. Woolf CJ, Salter MW. Neuronal plasticity: increasing the gain in pain. Science (80-) 2000;288(5472):1765–1769. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.288.5472.1765. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gordon DB, Dahl JL, Miaskowski C, et al. American Pain Society Recommendations for Improving the Quality of Acute and Cancer Pain Management: American Pain Society Quality of Care Task Force. Arch Intern Med. 2005;165(14):1574–1580. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.165.14.1574. - DOI - PubMed