New study ongoing to evaluate the effects of immersive VR in high prevalence chronic low back pain

Virtual Reality (VR) interventions have already shown therapeutic potential for acute pain, but few studies have examined the effects of this relatively new approach in chronic pain. In a recent article published in the BMJ Open, a team of researchers presented a study protocol for a study that looked at the effectiveness of 3 forms of VR interventions in patients with widespread chronic low back pain (cLBP).

In the proposed VR study by the National Institute of Health (NIH) Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04409353), the study researchers plan to randomly divide a total of 360 patients with cLBP into 3 different VR intervention arms.

The first competency-based VR intervention will include principles of mindful meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy and physiological biofeedback with embedded biometric sensors. The second distraction-based VR treatment arm will use immersive 360-degree video content to distract patients from their chronic pain. Finally, the third mock VR control group will not watch immersive, two-dimensional videos with a VR headset.

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The study examiners will monitor the participants for a total of 12 weeks. You will use patient reported results, handheld sensor data and electronic health record data as the primary data for monitoring. Investigators will then evaluate and compare the changes on the NIH Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pain interference scale over the 12 week period.

In addition, the study researchers hope to evaluate changes on the PROMIS Anxiety and PROMIS Sleep Disturbance, Opioid Prescribing, and Pain Catastrophizing Scale Short Form scales as secondary endpoints. Predictors of VR effectiveness at patient level are also examined in a subgroup analysis.

By May 2021, a total of 96 participants were randomly assigned to the VR intervention arms. The protocol for this study was prepared in collaboration with a patient advocate for chronic pain. Recruitment for the study began in September 2020 and is expected to end sometime in September 2023, according to the study researchers.

reference

Birckhead B, Eberlein S, Alvarez G, et al. Home-Based Virtual Reality for Chronic Pain: Protocol for an NIH-Supported Randomized-Controlled Study. BMJ open. 2021; 11 (6): e050545. doi: 10.1136 / bmjopen-2021-050545

Subjects:

Chronic pain pain management treatments