{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T15:01:36Z","timestamp":1792508496220,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,13]],"date-time":"2024-06-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1718236800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Smartphone apps for self-management are valuable tools to help manage low back pain (LBP) patients. The purposes of this systematic review were to (a) summarize the available studies on the efficacy of smartphone apps for self-management of LBP and (b) identify free applications available in Italy that offer strategies for LBP self-management and provide a qualitative assessment using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). According to the Prisma Checklist, six bibliographic databases were searched with the keywords \u2018low back pain\u2019, \u2018mobile application\u2019, \u2018smartphone\u2019, and \u2018telemedicine\u2019. In total, 852 records were screened, and 16 were included in the systematic review. Of the six RCTs included, four reported a statistically significant decrease in pain in favor of the app group, and two RCTs did not. Only in a non-RCT was there an increase in the disability score. In the application research conducted on mobile stores, we identified and rated 25 applications through MARS. The overall scores ranged from 1.93 to 3.92 for the IOS app and 1.73 to 4.25 for the Play Store app. The findings suggest that few apps meet satisfying quality, content, and functionality criteria for LBP self-management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life14060760","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,14]],"date-time":"2024-06-14T08:52:10Z","timestamp":1718355130000},"page":"760","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["The Efficacy of the Smartphone App for the Self-Management of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Their Quality through the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) in Italy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-1127-3584","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Scala","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Physioup\u2014Physiotherapy Practice, 00142 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-9911-8272","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gloria","family":"Giglioni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Asl Roma 3, Department of Rehabilitation, 00122 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Bertazzoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pain in Motion Research Group (PAIN), Vrije Universiteit, 1050 Brussels, Belgium"},{"name":"Painlab Studio Osteopatico, 20145 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Bonetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Physioup\u2014Physiotherapy Practice, 00142 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2356","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(18)30480-X","article-title":"What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention","volume":"391","author":"Hartvigsen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(21)00733-9","article-title":"Low back pain","volume":"398","author":"Knezevic","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"CPG1","DOI":"10.2519\/jospt.2021.0304","article-title":"Interventions for the Management of Acute and Chronic Low Back Pain: Revision 2021","volume":"51","author":"George","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. 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