In this episode, I speak with Todd Maddox and Laura Garcia about their work "An 8-Week Self-Administered At-Home Behavioral Skills-Based Virtual Reality Program for Chronic Low Back Pain: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Conducted During COVID-19." As someone who is fast approaching the age when many people will start to break down physically, I was very excited for the opportunity to talk with them. For more information about their work, check out the materials that they provided below:
What role could virtual reality play in managing chronic pain? For the 100 million Americans affected by chronic pain, managing their care can be very taxing. Behavioral therapies can provide information and skills to manage chronic pain.Unfortunately, there are still many barriers to these low-risk treatments. Thus, there is a great need for effective and accessible behavioral therapy for chronic pain.
Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that can provide easy access to pain management skills. AppliedVR’s (https://appliedvr.io/press/virtual-reality-is-a-holistic-treatment-for-chronic-pain/) recent national study showed that a skills-based VR program can relieve chronic low back pain. The best part: pain relief was possible in the comfort of an individual's home.
Our study (https://www.jmir.org/2021/2/e26292/) evaluated an 8-week self-administered VR therapeutic program. We tested whether this program could reduce pain intensity and any related outcomes. We analyzed data from 179 individuals with chronic low back pain. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two VR programs:
EaseVRx: An immersive VR program with interactive pain education and skills training for relaxation.
Sham VR: A non-immersive VR program displaying 2D nature content delivered in a VR headset (like a TV display).
Our study showed that EaseVRx was superior to Sham VR in its ability to reduce:
Pain Intensity (42% EaseVRx vs. 25% Sham VR)
Pain Interference with Activity (51% EaseVRx vs. 32% Sham VR)
Pain Interference with Mood (55% EaseVRx vs. 40% Sham VR)
Pain interference with Stress (59% EaseVRx vs. 38% Sham VR)
EaseVRx was also superior at reducing general sleep disturbance and improving physical function. Furthermore, 65% of participants with the EaseVRx program reported a meaningful pain reduction (≥30%). But, this was the case for only 40% of participants with the Sham VR program. Participants with EaseVRx also reported greater satisfaction and were more likely to recommend the program to others. Similarly, 85% of participants who used EaseVRx reported that they would "definitely continue to use" it if they could.
This is the first study to show that skills-based VR is superior to a VR sham in reducing chronic pain. Most importantly, our study showed high participant engagement and many other benefits of using VR therapy. Further research and development with VR could continue to improve the wellbeing of many individuals with chronic pain.
You can read the full press release on the AppliedVR website (https://appliedvr.io/press/virtual-reality-is-a-holistic-treatment-for-chronic-pain/).
You can watch our Patient Testimonial video (https://youtu.be/yxXR1poRHFs).
Read the full article here (https://www.jmir.org/2021/2/e26292/).
