Department of Psychological Medicine, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
BMC Cancer. 2022 Apr 2;22(1):360. doi: 10.1186/s12885-021-09081-z.
BACKGROUND: Women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) report debilitating physical and psychological symptoms, including fatigue, anxiety, and pain, that greatly impact their quality of life. Immersive virtual reality (VR) has been proposed as an adjunctive pain therapy for patients with cancer, and evidence suggests it may also decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess whether VR should be pursued as a feasible and acceptable adjunctive therapy to alleviate physical and psychological symptoms in women with MBC. METHODS: We conducted a pilot study testing the acceptability and efficacy of VR interventions with MBC patients to improve quality of life and to produce enduring decreases in fatigue, pain, depression, anxiety, and stress. Participants completed two different week-long VR experiences, reporting the prevalence of symptoms immediately before and after each study week, and 48 h later. Linear mixed models including fixed effects (VR intervention, counterbalancing order, and study week) and random effects (participant) were used to assess the effect of immersive VR on all outcome measures. RESULTS: Thirty-eight women with MBC completed the VR interventions and were included in analyses. Significant improvements post-intervention and/or 48 h later were demonstrated for quality of life, fatigue, pain, depression, anxiety, and stress. Across the entire study period, these differences met the criteria of a clinically important difference for quality of life, fatigue, depression, and stress. Participants reported feelings of relaxation and enjoyment and were highly likely to use the interventions gain. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that VR experiences offer enduring benefits to the physical and psychological well-being of women with MBC. VR interventions are a feasible and acceptable intervention that can be conducted in a patient's own home. Such interventions are worthy of future investigation as a novel approach to improving quality of life in a patient population that have often been overlooked. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Prospectively registered on 25th October 2019 with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ref: ACTRN12619001480178 ).
背景:转移性乳腺癌(MBC)女性患者会出现疲劳、焦虑和疼痛等严重影响生活质量的衰弱性生理和心理症状。沉浸式虚拟现实(VR)已被提议作为癌症患者的辅助疼痛治疗方法,有证据表明,它还可能减轻焦虑和抑郁症状。本初步研究旨在评估 VR 是否应作为一种可行且可接受的辅助治疗方法,以减轻 MBC 女性的生理和心理症状。
方法:我们进行了一项初步研究,测试了 MBC 患者使用 VR 干预措施的可接受性和疗效,以改善生活质量,并持久减轻疲劳、疼痛、抑郁、焦虑和压力。参与者完成了两种不同的为期一周的 VR 体验,在每一周的研究前后以及 48 小时后报告症状的普遍性。线性混合模型包括固定效应(VR 干预、平衡顺序和研究周)和随机效应(参与者),用于评估沉浸式 VR 对所有结果测量的影响。
结果:38 名患有 MBC 的女性完成了 VR 干预并被纳入分析。干预后和/或 48 小时后,生活质量、疲劳、疼痛、抑郁、焦虑和压力均有显著改善。在整个研究期间,这些差异达到了生活质量、疲劳、抑郁和压力的临床重要差异标准。参与者报告了放松和愉悦的感觉,并且非常愿意使用干预措施获得收益。
结论:我们的结果表明,VR 体验为 MBC 女性的生理和心理健康提供了持久的益处。VR 干预是一种可行且可接受的干预措施,可以在患者自己的家中进行。这种干预措施值得进一步研究,作为改善经常被忽视的患者群体生活质量的一种新方法。
试验注册:2019 年 10 月 25 日在澳大利亚和新西兰临床试验注册中心(注册号:ACTRN12619001480178)进行了前瞻性注册。
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