Multicenter trial-based economic evaluation of a mobile health intervention for individuals with chronic non-specific low back pain

The estimated number of people with low back pain rose, between 1990 and 2017, from 377.5 million to 577 million worldwide. People suffering from chronic conditions, such as low back pain, were significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to restrictions on healthcare services during the period of lockdown and social distancing. The pandemic has also brought about challenges and new healthcare practices (such as telehealth strategies and remote activities). In this context, and with the advancement of the internet in recent years, there has been a significant increase in web-based programmes and applications. In this regard, the use of m-Health technologies could facilitate and expand the provision of information based on scientific evidence. Furthermore, m-Health can also be useful for personalising home exercise plans and pain education, in accordance with each individual’s level of pain and functional impairment. General objective: to implement, in a relevant clinical setting, an automated algorithm for classifying individuals with low back pain according to their degree of irritability and the presence of biopsychosocial risk factors, in order to personalise the experience and provide a routine intervention programme and personalised guidance on self-management of their condition; as well as to investigate the economic viability of m-Health as an innovative healthcare process for people affected by low back pain.