{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T03:58:18Z","timestamp":1790740698067,"version":"4.1.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.12688\/hrbopenres.14515.1","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790035200000}}],"reference-count":16,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790035200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010414","name":"Health Research Board","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SS-2026-003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SS-2026-003"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010414","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["hrbopenresearch.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["HRB Open Res"],"abstract":"<ns3:p>Background Menopause is a major life transition with diverse physical, psychological, and social symptoms. More than 70% of women experience musculoskeletal (MSK) pain during the menopausal transition, and around 25% are disabled by it; this symptom cluster was recently characterised as the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. These symptoms are frequently normalised as an inevitable consequence of ageing rather than recognised as treatable, contributing to underdiagnosis and limited management. Mobile health (mHealth) applications increasingly deliver education, symptom tracking, and self-management support to menopausal women, yet the evidence base is fragmented, and how well this research captures MSK symptoms, rather than leaving them embedded within broader symptom measures, remains unclear. Methods This scoping review will follow JBI methodology and be reported using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Six bibliographic databases (Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed\/MEDLINE, CINAHL, and IEEE Xplore) will be searched, with reference-list hand-searching of included studies. Records will be screened in duplicate in Covidence; title\/abstract screening will retain records indicating symptom monitoring or tracking with a potential MSK link (including composite menopause symptom measures) or strength-oriented exercise, with MSK relevance confirmed at full text. A structured charting form will capture intervention characteristics, symptom-tracking functionality, study design, and outcomes, alongside an MSK-directness classification distinguishing direct measurement from indirect coverage (within composite measures, or exercise\/physical-activity components). Reported acceptability, usability, and engagement will be organised through the Technology Acceptance Model. Findings will be synthesised narratively using tables and thematic summaries. Conclusions This review will map how published, menopause-related mHealth research represents MSK symptoms, and whether they are assessed directly or only within broader symptom measures, rather than evaluating the applications themselves, which are the focus of a separate, complementary review. Results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and\/or international conferences.<\/ns3:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/hrbopenres.14515.2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T06:09:09Z","timestamp":1790057349000},"page":"80","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/hrbopenres.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["mHealth Applications in the Assessment of Musculoskeletal Pain in Menopausal Women: Protocol for a Scoping Review"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-5368-9596","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olivia","family":"Buttenham","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Education and Health Sciences Limerick County Limerick University of Limerick School of Medicine"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3702-7330","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karen","family":"McCreesh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Education and Health Sciences Limerick Limerick County University of Limerick School of Allied Health"},{"name":"Limerick County Limerick University of Limerick Health Research Institute"},{"name":"Lero, the Research Ireland Centre for Software Limerick County Limerick University of Limerick Department of Computer Science and Information Systems"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katie","family":"Crowley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Limerick County Limerick University of Limerick Health Research Institute"},{"name":"Lero, the Research Ireland Centre for Software Limerick County Limerick University of Limerick Department of Computer Science and Information Systems"},{"name":"Limerick County Limerick University of Limerick Department of Computer Science and Information Systems"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2560","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e077185","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2023-077185","article-title":"Does Health & Her app use improve menopausal symptoms? A longitudinal cohort study.","volume":"13","author":"R Andrews","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMJ Open."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19-32","DOI":"10.1080\/1364557032000119616","article-title":"Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework.","volume":"8","author":"H Arksey","year":"2005","journal-title":"International Journal of Social Research Methodology."},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5281\/zenodo.21285615","author":"O Buttenham","year":"2026","journal-title":"Zenodo."},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.maturitas.2025.108267","article-title":"Quality of life at peri- and postmenopause: analysis of the results from the app \u201cMi Menopausia\u201d.","volume":"197","author":"P Coronado","year":"2025","journal-title":"Maturitas."},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"319-340","DOI":"10.2307\/249008","article-title":"Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology.","volume":"13","author":"F Davis","year":"1989","journal-title":"MIS Quarterly."},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e58204","DOI":"10.2196\/58204","article-title":"Evaluating a mobile digital therapeutic for vasomotor and behavioral health symptoms among women in midlife: Randomized controlled trial.","volume":"13","author":"J Duffecy","year":"2025","journal-title":"JMIR Mhealth Uhealth."},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"25-31","DOI":"10.1016\/S0378-5122(98)00025-5","article-title":"Constructing a standard climacteric scale.","volume":"29","author":"J Greene","year":"1998","journal-title":"Maturitas."},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1186\/1477-7525-2-45","article-title":"The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) scale: A methodological review.","volume":"2","author":"K Heinemann","year":"2004","journal-title":"Health Qual Life Outcomes."},{"key":"ref9","article-title":"Menopause: identification and management (NICE Guideline NG23).","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"518","DOI":"10.1186\/s12905-023-02612-9","article-title":"A systematic review of menopause apps with an emphasis on osteoporosis.","volume":"23","author":"D Paripoorani","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Womens Health."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.46658\/JBIMES-24-09","author":"M Peters","year":"2024","journal-title":"JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis."},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.maturitas.2024.108246","article-title":"Capturing menopause symptoms utilising a novel index: the menopause symptom tracker score.","volume":"108246","author":"G Pounis","year":"2024","journal-title":"Maturitas."},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"108005","DOI":"10.1016\/j.maturitas.2024.108005","article-title":"The impact of a specialist-led digital health application on menopause symptoms in the workplace: A single-arm, longitudinal evaluation.","volume":"187","author":"T Schei","year":"2024","journal-title":"Maturitas."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20552076251330782","DOI":"10.1177\/20552076251330782","article-title":"Menopause apps: Personal health tracking, empowerment and epistemic injustice.","volume":"11","author":"E Sillence","year":"2025","journal-title":"Digit Health."},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"467-473","DOI":"10.7326\/M18-0850","article-title":"PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and explanation.","volume":"169","author":"A Tricco","year":"2018","journal-title":"Ann Intern Med."},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"466-472","DOI":"10.1080\/13697137.2024.2380363","article-title":"The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause.","volume":"27","author":"V Wright","year":"2024","journal-title":"Climacteric."}],"container-title":["HRB Open Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/hrbopenresearch.org\/articles\/9-80\/v2\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/hrbopenresearch.org\/articles\/9-80\/v2\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/hrbopenresearch.org\/articles\/9-80\/v2\/iparadigms","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T03:19:14Z","timestamp":1790738354000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/hrbopenresearch.org\/articles\/9-80\/v2"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"references-count":16,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/hrbopenres.14515.2","relation":{"has-version":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.12688\/hrbopenres.14515.1","asserted-by":"subject"}],"has-review":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.21956\/hrbopenres.16050.r58040","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.21956\/hrbopenres.16050.r58040","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2515-4826"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2515-4826","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Indexed","URL":"https:\/\/hrbopenresearch.org\/articles\/9-80\/v2#article-reports","order":0,"name":"referee-status","label":"Referee status","group":{"name":"current-referee-status","label":"Current Referee Status"}},{"value":"10.21956\/hrbopenres.16000.r57307, Camille Cronin, University of Essex, Colchester, 18 Aug 2026, version 1, 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations","URL":"https:\/\/hrbopenresearch.org\/articles\/9-80\/v1#referee-response-57307","order":0,"name":"referee-response-57307","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"<b>Olivia Buttenham<\/b>; \n<i>Posted: 15 Sep 2026<\/i>; Thank you for reviewing our protocol and for your positive assessment. We have addressed your three points below. Risk of bias. We agree this needed to be clearer, and this point was also raised by the other reviewer, so we have addressed both together. No formal methodological quality or risk-of-bias appraisal will be undertaken, which is consistent with scoping review methodology, and no study will be included or excluded on that basis. We have removed the term risk-of-bias judgement to avoid implying a formal appraisal. Instead, the review team will record brief descriptive methodological notes, such as sample size, attrition, and completeness of reporting, to provide context for the synthesis. These will not constitute a formal risk-of-bias assessment. Technology Acceptance Model. We have added a brief rationale. TAM was pre-registered as the framework for the acceptability and implementation charting category. We have clarified that acceptability, usability, and engagement are charted as a secondary descriptive dimension used to characterise the applications rather than as a primary aim, and that they are reported descriptively. This keeps the focus on the central musculoskeletal objectives while retaining useful descriptive context about the apps. Anticipated findings. We take this point. Because the purpose of a scoping review is to map the available evidence rather than to test an expectation, we have removed the anticipated-findings statement so that the aims and objectives stand on their own. Thank you again for your time and for these constructive comments.","URL":"https:\/\/hrbopenresearch.org\/articles\/9-80\/v2#referee-comment-3971","order":1,"name":"referee-comment-3971","label":"Referee Comment","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.21956\/hrbopenres.16050.r58040, Nigel R. Armfield, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 30 Sep 2026, version 2, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/hrbopenresearch.org\/articles\/9-80\/v2#referee-response-58040","order":2,"name":"referee-response-58040","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"Health Research Board Ireland [SS-2026-003]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","order":3,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}