Smartphone app shows weather and chronic pain could be connected

06 Sep 2016

Preliminary findings from a mass participation study have indicated a link between weather conditions – specifically rain and lack of sunshine – and chronic pain

Daily data inputted from over 9000 participants in the Manchester-led ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Pain’ project has been viewed at the halfway stage of the 18-month study and the early results suggest a correlation between the number of sunny days and rainfall levels and changes in pain levels.

Members of the public who have long-term pain record their daily pain symptoms on a special app. The app also independently captures hourly weather conditions using the smartphone GPS, thus joining pain data with real-time local weather events. 

The study is still open to new participants and the researchers are keen to recruit as many people as possible who are willing to track their symptoms.

Professor of Digital Epidemiology and scientific lead Will Dixon, from the School of Biological Sciences, said the early results were encouraging but urged more people to take part in the study in order to allow robust conclusions.

“Once the link is proven, people will have the confidence to plan their activities in accordance with the weather. In addition, understanding how weather influences pain will allow medical researchers to explore new pain interventions and treatments.

“We need as many people as possible to participate in the study and track their symptoms on their smartphone”.

“If you are affected by chronic pain, this is your chance to take do something personally – and easily – to lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of pain.”

If you have access to a smartphone and are interested in joining the project, you can sign up at www.cloudywithachanceofpain.com