Skidmore Nathan, Ryan Cormac G, Mankelow Jagjit, Martin Denis
Centre for Rehabilitation, School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Tees Valley, Middlesbrough TS1 3BX, UK.
NIHR Applied Research Collaboration for the North East and Cumbria, Cumbria, UK.
Pain Res Manag. 2025 Aug 29;2025:5547227. doi: 10.1155/prm/5547227. eCollection 2025.
Persistent pain is a complex global issue, which has a significant impact on quality of life. Poor health literacy further impacts the quality of life in people with persistent pain. It is recommended that education be provided to improve health-related knowledge. VR is an engaging learning tool and could improve health literacy. Research exploring the feasibility of physiotherapists using VR to develop health literacy is minimal. To determine the feasibility of a VR-based pain education system among physiotherapists and understand barriers and facilitators to its adoption in clinical practice. Semistructured interviews were conducted with physiotherapists in the United Kingdom after they used a VR-based pain education system, which combines sensory-altering experiences with pain science education. Thematic analysis was used to identify considerations related to its feasibility and its potential to influence health literacy in patients with persistent pain. All participants ( = 12) believed that the VR system could develop several aspects of health literacy, such as information understanding and appraisal. Challenges to clinical integration include allowing for increased clinical time and system training and ensuring the use of VR represents both personalized and evidence-based care. The VR pain management system was considered a feasible adjunct to address health literacy by increasing the plausibility of information and addressing health-related understanding, appraisal, and application. Future research is required to validate the effectiveness of VR-based education systems to improve health literacy.
持续性疼痛是一个复杂的全球性问题，对生活质量有重大影响。健康素养低下会进一步影响持续性疼痛患者的生活质量。建议提供教育以提高与健康相关的知识。虚拟现实（VR）是一种引人入胜的学习工具，可以提高健康素养。探索物理治疗师使用VR提高健康素养可行性的研究很少。为了确定基于VR的疼痛教育系统在物理治疗师中的可行性，并了解在临床实践中采用该系统的障碍和促进因素。在英国的物理治疗师使用基于VR的疼痛教育系统后，对他们进行了半结构化访谈，该系统将改变感觉的体验与疼痛科学教育相结合。采用主题分析来确定与其可行性以及对持续性疼痛患者健康素养的影响潜力相关的因素。所有参与者（n = 12）都认为VR系统可以提高健康素养的多个方面，如信息理解和评估。临床整合的挑战包括增加临床时间和系统培训，以及确保VR的使用既代表个性化又基于证据的护理。基于VR的疼痛管理系统被认为是一种可行的辅助手段，通过增加信息的可信度以及解决与健康相关的理解、评估和应用来提高健康素养。需要未来的研究来验证基于VR的教育系统提高健康素养的有效性。
