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MyJointPain

An online resource for people with joint pain related to osteoarthritis.

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MyJointPain	By Arthritis NZ
	Features Tracking. Graphs and reporting. Informative videos.
Country of origin	Australia – adapted for New Zealand
Clinical review	Read a clinical review below.
Security and privacy	Does the app: Collect medical information? Yes Require a login? Yes Have password protection? No Have a privacy policy? Yes Require internet access to use? Yes Read more about safety and security when using apps. Brochures: Tips to improve your privacy and security [PDF, 65 KB] Healthify He Puna Waiora, NZ Staying safe online(external link) Netsafe, NZ
Cost	Free
Advertisements	This app contains no ads.
How to access the online programme	(external link)

The My Joint Pain website is a tool for screening for risk of osteoarthritis, and monitoring joint pain and other symptoms of arthritis.

When you first set up an account, you answer a series of health screening questions, including which joints are affected by pain and the level of discomfort. Based on your responses, the website creates a “management plan”. This includes information on the various treatment options to consider, including both medicines and non-medicine treatments. This section has comprehensive information about treatments available. There is also a section where you can choose from specific options to create your own action plan (e.g. “reduce your portion sizes in general”, “use a brace or taping”).
Note: Users can also access the treatment section, without an initial screening.

Following this, you are encouraged to complete a check in on the website once a week.

There is also a library section, which includes informative videos, and information fact sheets covering a variety of topics. These fact sheets often contain links to websites where you can find NZ specific services e.g. occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians etc.

For the complete app description, go to the website(external link) or, for a more detailed review, see reviews below.

PROS	CONS
✔ The website uses validated scoring systems for assessing risk of osteoarthritis, depression, health-related quality of life, heart disease risk etc. ✔ Very wide range of information available. ✔ Comprehensive written information with references Informative videos. ✔ Website developed in conjunction with Arthritis New Zealand.	✘ When you have completed the screening assessment, the results (except for osteoarthritis risk) are not obvious. I could only find the results for heart disease risk, GI side effect risk, depression risk when selecting “print report”, which creates a report intended to share with your healthcare practitioner. ✘ Some recommendations do not match the risk assessment – e.g. I completed a mock assessment that gave a significantly increased GI side effect risk when taking NSAIDs, but the recommended treatment list included NSAIDs. There was no alert to inform users that they are at increased risk of side effects based on the screening assessment – the website relies on the user reading the information in detail and analysing their own risk or discussing with their GP. ✘ There are some suggestions that are not applicable to NZ users (e.g. talking to your GP about duloxetine – which is not available in NZ). ✘ When filling out personal health details, the section for adding medication is very awkward – you have to select from a drop-down menu, and many medications are not listed. There is no option to add a medication that is not on the list. You can also only choose from the doses listed in a drop-down menu, which might not match what you are actually taking. ✘ Some of the information pages for recommended treatments are incomplete (i.e. some treatments have sections for pros/cons, FAQs and references but these sections have not been completed). ✘ Information appears to have been last updated 2015 / last reviewed in 2020.

PROS

CONS

✔ The website uses validated scoring systems for assessing risk of osteoarthritis, depression, health-related quality of life, heart disease risk etc.

✔ Very wide range of information available.

✔ Comprehensive written information with references
Informative videos.

✔ Website developed in conjunction with Arthritis New Zealand.

✘ When you have completed the screening assessment, the results (except for osteoarthritis risk) are not obvious. I could only find the results for heart disease risk, GI side effect risk, depression risk when selecting “print report”, which creates a report intended to share with your healthcare practitioner.

✘ Some recommendations do not match the risk assessment – e.g. I completed a mock assessment that gave a significantly increased GI side effect risk when taking NSAIDs, but the recommended treatment list included NSAIDs. There was no alert to inform users that they are at increased risk of side effects based on the screening assessment – the website relies on the user reading the information in detail and analysing their own risk or discussing with their GP.

✘ There are some suggestions that are not applicable to NZ users (e.g. talking to your GP about duloxetine – which is not available in NZ).

✘ When filling out personal health details, the section for adding medication is very awkward – you have to select from a drop-down menu, and many medications are not listed. There is no option to add a medication that is not on the list. You can also only choose from the doses listed in a drop-down menu, which might not match what you are actually taking.

✘ Some of the information pages for recommended treatments are incomplete (i.e. some treatments have sections for pros/cons, FAQs and references but these sections have not been completed).

✘ Information appears to have been last updated 2015 / last reviewed in 2020.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Emma Riddell, Clinical Pharmacist, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora
Date of review: September 2024
Platform: Android and PC
Comments: I found this website good at analysing risk for osteoarthritis and giving a comprehensive overview of treatment options available (including pharmaceutical as well as non-pharmaceutical e.g. weight control, exercise, nutrition, mobility aids). However, I would recommend only using this website in combination with a visit to your healthcare practitioner/GP, particularly if you are planning to take medicines for management of osteoarthritic pain.
When you first set up an account, you answer a series of health-related questions (this takes ~5-12 minutes). I really liked this section as the website is using validated screening questionnaires to assess your risk for multiple conditions (including risk for gastrointestinal side effects with NSAIDs, risk for heart disease, health-related quality of life etc). However, the outcome of these assessments only appears if you print a report to show your healthcare practitioner. The outcomes of the screening tool do not appear to affect the treatment advice provided by the website (e.g. it still suggests use of NSAIDs even if you are assessed to be at high risk of NSAID related side effects). Due to this, I think that completing the initial assessment and then taking a copy of the printed report to your doctor/pharmacist to discuss options would be the best way to use this information.
Under the library section, the information fact sheets are really comprehensive and contain links to NZ based services. I found that the videos weren’t as good a source of information.
Some sections of the website are not that well developed – e.g. multiple sections of the treatment options haven’t been completed for some treatments, and the link to “find a health care professional near you” leads to a page for FAQs for the website.
Safety concerns: Outcomes of screening tools not easily visible. No clear recommendation or alert on when to seek medical advice.
New Zealand relevance: Yes
Concerns: There are some suggestions that are not applicable to NZ users (e.g. talking to your GP about duloxetine – which is not available in NZ).

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