Evaluating Simulator Sickness and Acceptability of Virtual Reality Prototype in Pain Management in Hospitalized Patients

Abstract

Aim: Acute and chronic noncancer pain is a common healthcare problem locally and globally, and remains under treated and poorly controlled. We created a virtual reality (VR)-based prototype with customization of content to our local population. Materials & methods: This was an open-label, single center, single-arm study to examine the safety, acceptability and tolerability of the use of VR as an adjunctive tool for pain relief in hospitalized patients. The participants rated their baseline and post-VR pain and anxiety scores. Results & conclusion: All 50 patients completed the VR sessions with good tolerability and safety. Preliminary exploration of pain reduction indicated a positive effect (for pain and anxiety visual analog scale scores; p < 0.001). We believe VR is a potentially beneficial tool for use in pain management.

Keywords::

• acute and chronic pain
• adjunctive therapy
• innovation
• pain management
• virtual reality

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www.futuremedicine.com/doi/suppl/10.2217/pmt-2023-0072

Author contributions

LW Li conceptualized the study, acquired funding, and wrote the manuscript. MH Eng recruited patients and executed the study. PA Singh recruited patients and provided intellectual input and guidance. SH Koo interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. BL Sng revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. All authors contributed to the writing, approved the final version of the manuscript, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the following for their domain expertise in development of our VR-based prototype that is customized to our local population: J Foo (CEO of Vuenets – our industry partner), K Joshi (Pain Psychologist, National University of Singapore), E Fassbender (Founder of Atmosphaeres) as our VR technical advisor. The authors would also like to thank K Xuan Han (Analyst, Health Services Research, Changi General Hospital) for his contributions to the statistical planning and analysis of the data.

Financial disclosure

This work was supported by Changi General Hospital Research Grant (CHF2020.07-S). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Competing interests disclosure

The authors have no competing interests or relevant affiliations with any organization or entity with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, stock ownership or options and expert testimony.

Writing disclosure

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations.

In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Data sharing statement

The authors certify that this manuscript reports original clinical trial data. Deidentified, individual data that underlie the results reported in this article (text, tables, figures and appendices), along with the study protocol will be available indefinitely for anyone who wants access to them.