Poster Presentation Sydney Spinal Symposium 2025

Conversational Agents to Support Pain Management: A Scoping Review  (#2)

Filipe L Souza 1 2 , Hannah Bowman 2 , Francis Yang 1 2 , Negin Hesam-Shariati 2 3 , Jackson Linke 1 2 , Yannick Gilanyi 1 2 , Matt Jones 1 2 , Rafael Z-Pinto 1 2 , James McAuley 1 2 , Rodrigo RN Rizzo 1 2
  1. School of Health Sciences, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Centre for Pain IMPACT , Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. School of Psychology, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Digital health technologies, such as conversational agents, offer the potential for personalised and accessible pain management. However, the characteristics and effectiveness of these interventions are not yet fully understood. This scoping review aims to comprehensively evaluate the applications and effectiveness of conversational agents in supporting pain management in adults (i.e., healthy individuals at risk of developing pain, individuals currently experiencing pain and healthcare providers or students involved in managing pain conditions). Searches were systematically conducted across six databases—MEDLINE PubMed, ACM Digital Library, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL—and five trial registries from inception. Twenty‐eight studies were included, focusing on capturing health information (n = 8), providing emotional support (n = 7), facilitating adherence to self‐management exercises (n = 6), delivering psychological treatment (n = 5), offering organisational support (n = 1) and educating healthcare providers (n = 1). These studies addressed conditions with pain as a central or common symptom, including dementia (n = 7), cancer (n = 5) and musculoskeletal disorders (n = 4), among others. None of the conversational agents on the market covered all four stages recommended for translational research (development, feasibility, effectiveness and implementation). In conclusion, the use of conversational agents in pain management is relatively new and involves diverse and promising appllications. However, evidence supporting their effectiveness in improving pain‐related outcomes remains limited and heterogeneous. Future reseacrh should prioritise feasibility, reliability, and user experience studies to inform the design of robust randomised controlled trials.