Chronic musculoskeletal pain, as seen in fibromyalgia or post-COVID-19, affects many people worldwide, causing persistent pain, fatigue and a decrease in quality of life. These conditions are difficult to treat and conventional treatments are often unsatisfactory.
This thesis focuses on the development and evaluation of the mobile application POCOS, designed to help patients manage their chronic pain. POCOS integrates various therapeutic, educational and physiotherapy modules, based on techniques proven effective in patients with fibromyalgia. The app also allows users to regularly document their symptoms and activities and track their progress.
The development of POCOS was carried out in close collaboration with patients and healthcare professionals to ensure a patient-centered approach and an excellent user experience. Discussion groups, surveys, and usability tests were conducted to optimize the application. One of the key challenges in developing digital health solutions is indeed the user experience, often neglected but essential for optimizing patient engagement.
Patients who participated in a pain management program at CHUV tested the application for four weeks. The results showed links between the patients' clinical characteristics and their engagement with the application. For example, increased use was observed in patients taking opioids and suffering from post-traumatic stress, while reduced use was seen in depressive patients or patients being in couple.
These results highlight the importance of personalizing digital solutions according to patients' clinical profiles to optimize their engagement. In the future, POCOS could be clinically validated and integrated into pain management programs, offering continuous and personalized support and helping to alleviate the burden on healthcare centers by improving the management of patients with chronic pain.
In conclusion, POCOS represents a promising advancement in the field of digital health, meeting the needs of patients suffering from chronic pain and facilitating optimal adoption. Furthermore, this work has been instrumental in establishing a strategic framework for the integration of mHealth into clinical pathways, particularly by identifying and addressing critical bottlenecks related to usability and patient engagement.