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Back pain app outperforms physiotherapy in clinical trial

Kaia Health, a digital therapeutics company, announced results from the first randomised controlled trial of its app-based therapy programme for patients with non-specific low back pain. Detailed results of the study showed that patients using Kaia, a downloadable app for back pain, reported significantly lower pain levels compared to the control group treated with physiotherapy and online education.

"This study can help add to the growing body of evidence that generally supports the use of multimodal treatments for chronic conditions,” said Thomas Tölle, MD., PhD, head of pain medicine at Technical University Munich, Germany. “Within this study, we saw a notable benefit for people managing low back pain when delivering multimodal treatment through the digital modality of the smartphone, as is done in the Kaia app."
 
Low back pain is one of the leading causes of global disability, and treatment is expensive. According to the Office for National Statistics, back, neck and muscle problems account for almost 31 million days of work lost in 2013 costing the UK economy £14 billion per year - with an estimated one-third of the UK adult population affected by back pain annually.
 
"As a company, we want to support the improvement of the current standard of care for people living with back pain," said Konstantin Mehl, founder and CEO, Kaia Health. "And while these study results are promising, we will be initiating a similar U.S.-based study looking at the use of the Kaia app for self-management of back pain."
 
In the study, analysed patients with low back pain were treated using two methods. The first group used Kaia Health’s multi-platform mHealth app (n=42), while a second control group was treated using a standard therapy program consisting of six once-weekly, in-person physiotherapy sessions guided by a certified therapist plus sophisticated online education about back pain delivered to patients weekly with a motivating email (n=44).

Both groups were encouraged to live an active lifestyle and perform the therapeutic exercises at home, but the app provided three therapy modules - back pain education; physiotherapy; and mindfulness and relaxation techniques - and recommended a three to four times-per-week exercise plan that could be personalised for each user. App users also could interact with a human coach via the app if they had questions.

Both the control and Kaia app treatment groups experienced significant pain reduction over the course of 12 weeks. However, after three months, patients using the Kaia app reported substantially larger decrease in their back pain intensity than control group patients: 2.4 vs. 2.0, respectively, on a numeric rating scale ranging from 0 to 10 (where higher numbers represent more pain). 

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Upcoming Events

Central Sterilising Club - Annual Scientific Meeting 2024

Crowne Plaza at Gerrard’s Cross
15th April 2024 – 16th April 2024

DECON UK 2024

National Conference Centre, Birmingham
17th April 2024

Infection Prevention & Control

National Conference Centre, Birmingham
23rd - 24th April 2024

Theatres & Decontamination Conference 2024

Coventry Building Society Arena
16th May 2024

The AfPP Roadshow - Birmingham

Millennium Point, Birmingham
18th May 2024

The AfPP Roadshow - Exeter

University of Exeter
22nd June 2024

Access the latest issue of Clinical Services Journal on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

Download the FREE Clinical Services Journal app from your device's App store

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