Feasibility of Virtual Reality Delivery of Pain Neuroscience Education

Utah System of Higher Education (USHE)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Low Back Pain

Treatments: Behavioral: VR Pain Education; Behavioral: Usual Care Physical Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05285462

IRB_00145358

Details and patient eligibility

About

Randomized Clinical Trail (RCT) for patients already planned to attend physical therapy for chronic low back pain. Patients will be randomized to receive Physical Therapy (PT) as usual or PT plus pain education delivered via virtual-reality headset.

Full description

There is an increasing emphasis in physical therapy and healthcare in general on enhancing patients' ability to self-manage spinal pain as a strategy to reduce disability for impacted individuals and escalating healthcare costs. This change in emphasis requires a paradigm shift on the part of practitioners and patients alike in how they conceptualize and respond to pain. PNE is a promising education strategy that has been shown to influence patient-reported outcomes in those with chronic pain and has been shown to influence the provider's beliefs about pain. However, the delivery of this education has proven difficult for providers in terms of comfortability and time-efficiency. A standardized delivery a PNE by experts in the field could prove efficient and effective.

STUDY DESIGN The investigators' overall goal is to determine the feasibility of VR-delivered pain neuroscience education (PNE). Secondarily, the investigators would like to see if these interventions are best targeted to specific individuals. To accomplish these goals, the investigators will conduct a randomized clinical trial, randomly assigning participants to receive virtual reality (VR) education in addition to usual care or usual care with no additional education.

Enrollment: 52 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 75 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• i. Age 18-75 at time of first physical therapy session ii. Primary reason for physical therapy is low back pain iii. History of low back pain >/= 12 weeks

Exclusion criteria

• i. Age >75y/o or <18 y/o ii. Red flag condition that prohibits participation in physical therapy:

  • Systemic metabolic disorder
  • Neurological or muscular degenerative disorder (including Epilepsy)
  • Systemic infection
  • Cardiopulmonary or pulmonary disorder with contraindication to physical exercise iii. Recent spinal surgery (<12 months) iv. Specific spinal pathologies, such as severe stenosis or spondylolisthesis or fracture v. Acute radiculopathy or compromised nerve root vi. Currently known to be pregnant

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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52 participants in 2 patient groups

Usual Care PT

Active Comparator group

Description:

Patients will attend normal course of PT without influence from study team.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Usual Care Physical Therapy

Usual Care PT + VR Pain Education

Experimental group

Description:

Patients will attend normal course of PT without influence of duration or frequency of care. Patients will also receive up to 12 session of pain education delivered via VR headset

Treatment:

Behavioral: VR Pain Education

Behavioral: Usual Care Physical Therapy