Virtual Reality for Improving Pain and Distress in Patients With Advanced Stage Colorectal Cancer

Summary

Patients with advanced colorectal cancer often experience high levels of debilitating pain and pain-related psychological distress. Pain in cancer patients is typically treated with analgesics. There is growing agreement that non-pharmacological pain management strategies are needed to treat pain in advanced cancer patients. Recent evidence suggests Virtual Reality (VR) experiences can lead to reductions in acute pain; however, VR has not been tested in advanced cancer patients having persistent pain. VR could represent a valuable addition to our current armamentarium of treatments for persistent pain in palliative care patients. VR provides individuals with an immersive computer-generated environment that can reduce pain, tension and distress.

The proposed study builds upon and extends preliminary research in healthy participants conducted by Luana Colloca, MD, PhD. Dr. Colloca is a consultant on this project and the proposed study would be the first to extend VR Blue to a clinical population and test its effects on clinical pain. The objective is to gather initial data on advanced colorectal cancer patients' immediate response to a single VR session. The investigators will examine feasibility, acceptability, safety, and impact of exposure to VR Blue on the clinical pain experience of advanced colorectal cancer patients. The study will collect data on pain, tension and distress pre-, midpoint, and post-VR. The investigators will also examine how pre- to post-VR changes in key cognitive variables (i.e., pain catastrophizing, pain self-efficacy) relate to VR-related changes in pain, tension and distress.

The investigators will also collect qualitative data following participants' VR experience to better understand patients' preferences, thoughts and feelings about the VR experience. Data will be used to optimize VR Blue for future study, including developing an intervention to support a multi-session VR protocol for advanced colorectal cancer patients. The proposed study represents the first step in a program of clinical research that seeks to test the efficacy of VR in improving pain and pain-related symptoms in advanced colorectal cancer patients. In the proposed study, the investigators will collect quantitative and qualitative data on the impact of VR Blue on pain and pain-related outcomes in 20 advanced colorectal cancer patients.

Conditions

• Colorectal Cancer

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

VR Blue

VR Blue provides patients with an immersive computer-generated environment that can reduce pain, tension and distress.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Colorado, Denver

  collaborator OTHER

• Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group

  collaborator NETWORK

• National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

  collaborator NIH

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

  collaborator NIH

• Duke University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sarah A Kelleher, PhD · Duke University

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

85 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-03-12

Primary Completion

2021-07-19

Completion

2021-07-19

Countries

• United States

Study Locations