When Digital Health helps manage pain

by Ana Díaz-Roncero, March 18, 2026

It is estimated that around 1.6 billion people worldwide live with chronic pain, and approximately 8 million in Spain, according to the Chronic Pain Barometer. Beyond the physical symptom, chronic pain has a profound impact on quality of life, mental health, and functional capacity, limiting daily, social, and work-related activities, and affecting overall well-being.

In addition, the socioeconomic burden associated with this condition is considerable. Chronic pain is linked to productivity loss, work absenteeism, and high healthcare costs. In 2014, the estimated cost of chronic pain in Europe reached €300 billion, representing between 1.5% and 3% of the Eurozone’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That same year, healthcare costs related to chronic pain in Spain were estimated at €16 billion annually, accounting for nearly 2.5% of the national GDP. Furthermore, considering the progressive ageing of the population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, this economic and healthcare burden is expected to continue growing in the coming years.

In this context, any tool that helps reduce the burden associated with chronic pain offers significant benefits for both patients and the healthcare system. Among these tools, Digital Health stands out, playing an increasingly important role thanks to recent technological advances. In particular, mobile applications and digital platforms designed for remote monitoring of pain and health outcomes help optimize patients’ self-management of symptoms and lifestyle habits. This has been shown to improve pain intensity assessment, quality of life, and functional disability, as demonstrated by a systematic review analyzing 22 randomized clinical trials.

These digital solutions may include:

• • Remote monitoring of pain and associated symptoms.
  • Treatment adherence management through reminders, health education, and patient support.
  • Personalization of treatment based on patient-reported data.
  • Digital therapeutic interventions based on exercise, education, and psychosocial components.

Moreover, when these digital solutions demonstrate their effectiveness through clinical studies, they can evolve into what are known as Digital Therapeutics (DTx) —software-based therapeutic interventions designed to prevent, manage, or treat a disease, delivering a direct benefit to patients’ health outcomes.

The advantages of Digital Health and DTx are clear for both patients and healthcare systems: improved disease monitoring, greater patient engagement in their own care, and more efficient use of healthcare resources. In this context, these solutions are positioned as key enablers to advance toward more personalized, continuous, and patient-centered pain management.

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