Mobile app could help people manage fibromyalgia, UC study suggests

WVXU highlighted research led by the University of Cincinnati's Lesley Arnold and Swing Therapeutics that found a self-guided smartphone-based behavioral therapy led to significant improvements for patients with fibromyalgia.

Results of the Phase 3 PROSPER-FM trial published in The Lancet clinically validated the benefits of smartphone app Stanza that delivers acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a type of cognitive behavioral therapy recommended by international clinical guidelines for fibromyalgia management. These benefits included improvements in well-being, fibromyalgia severity and major fibromyalgia symptoms, including pain intensity, pain interference, fatigue, sleep disturbance, depression and physical function.

“For millions of people with fibromyalgia, this study, published in The Lancet, describes a new and effective therapy for fibromyalgia,” said Lesley Arnold, MD, study principal investigator and professor emerita at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. “This novel, non-drug therapy, available using a smartphone, makes management of fibromyalgia more accessible and convenient. This offers new hope for people with fibromyalgia, who have continued to experience unmet treatment needs.”

Read more about the research.

Read the WVXU article.

Featured photo at top: A person holds a phone displaying the Stanza app. Photo provided by Swing Therapeutics.