Garrett Bernard M, Tao Gordon, Taverner Tarnia, Cordingley Elliott, Sun Crystal
School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, BC, Canada.
Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, BC, Canada.
Heliyon. 2020 May 12;6(5):e03916. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03916. eCollection 2020 May.
The management of chronic cancer pain remains challenging and complex, with the process often involving a variety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. Recent studies have shown virtual reality (VR) therapy to be successful in the management of acute pain. However, it remains unclear whether VR-based applications are effective as an adjunctive therapy for cancer patients with chronic pain. Moreover, there exists a gap in the current research landscape that address patient's perceptions of virtual reality therapy. This qualitative study enrolled patients from a larger ongoing randomized controlled clinical trial in two focus groups covering topics including patients experience with and perspectives on using VR for chronic pain control, both generally, and specific to their own circumstances. Five major thematic categories and 23 sub-categories emerged in the analysis process reflecting the participants' narrative. Similar to other research, this study found mixed results in the use of adjunctive VR therapy to manage chronic cancer pain, although a majority of respondents found it to be beneficial. This study confirms that pain management is a highly complex and individualized process. For maximum efficacy, it is recommended that future designs of VR interventions engage pain patients in the design process to ensure maximum efficacy of experiences to with individuals' preferences.
慢性癌痛的管理仍然具有挑战性且复杂，这一过程通常涉及多种药物和非药物方法。最近的研究表明，虚拟现实（VR）疗法在急性疼痛管理中取得了成功。然而，基于VR的应用作为慢性疼痛癌症患者的辅助治疗是否有效仍不清楚。此外，目前的研究领域在解决患者对虚拟现实疗法的看法方面存在差距。这项定性研究从一项正在进行的大型随机对照临床试验中招募患者，分为两个焦点小组，讨论的主题包括患者使用VR控制慢性疼痛的体验和观点，包括总体情况以及针对他们自身情况的具体看法。分析过程中出现了五个主要主题类别和23个子类别，反映了参与者的叙述。与其他研究类似，本研究发现辅助性VR疗法在管理慢性癌痛方面结果不一，尽管大多数受访者认为它有益。本研究证实，疼痛管理是一个高度复杂且个性化的过程。为了达到最大疗效，建议未来VR干预措施的设计让疼痛患者参与设计过程，以确保体验能最大程度符合个人偏好并达到最大疗效。
