Effects of Virtual Reality on Brain Hemodynamic Activity in Chronic Pain

Acibadem University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Chronic Pain; Virtual Reality; Rheumatoid Arthritis

Treatments: Other: Immersive virtual reality; Other: Non-immersive virtual reality

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06154850

ATADEK 2022-14/06

Details and patient eligibility

About

Virtual reality systems have been applied in recent years to reduce pain intensity and fear of movement in individuals with acute and chronic pain. The main mechanism of virtual reality methods in pain control is to provide the effect of distraction from pain. Virtual reality systems allow the individuals to feel themselves in a different environment and shift their attention to the game they are playing or the virtual world created rather than the pain they feel. This is thought to be the main mechanism of pain control. However, the cortical mechanism of the reduction in pain caused by virtual reality methods, especially in individuals with chronic pain, has not been fully elucidated.

It is predicted that the integration of virtual reality methods into treatment protocols will gradually increase by time, especially as a result of the reflection of technological developments in clinical practice. At this point, fNIRS, which enables the assessment of the functionality of brain areas during movement, has the potential to reveal the response of the effect provided by virtual reality technology in the prefrontal cortex.

The aims of our study were to examine brain hemodynamic activity during the experience of non-immersive and immersive virtual reality environments and the change in pain intensity after virtual reality applications in individuals with rheumatic diseases with chronic pain.

Enrollment: 15 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 55 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis,
• Right hand dominant,

Exclusion criteria

• A history of acute pain up to 3 days prior to the date of evaluation,
• Any psychiatric and neurological diagnosis,
• Have a cognitive problem that prevents them from adapting to the working procedure,
• Using centrally acting medications and anti-depressants.
• Presence of neuropathic pain,
• Presence of vision or hearing problems,
• Any psychiatric and neurological diagnosis

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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15 participants in 2 patient groups

Immersive Virtual Reality

Experimental group

Description:

Individuals will wear the headset for 10 minutes while playing NatureTrek application

Treatment:

Other: Immersive virtual reality

Non-immersive Virtual Reality

Active Comparator group

Description:

Individuals will watch a video including scenes from NatureTrek application for 10 minutes.

Treatment:

Other: Non-immersive virtual reality