Development of an Intervention Integrating Procedures Combining Hypnosis and Virtual Reality in the Support of Patients with Hematological Cancer

Summary

Research into cancer patients has shown that quality of life is significantly altered by the disease and its associated treatments and is also reported to be a predictor of significant emotional distress. Blood cancer patients are among those most affected in terms of quality of life, facing stem cell transplantation after high-dose chemotherapy, a treatment that is recognized as one of the most stressful of cancer therapy, due to the many adverse effects, including pain, and the uncertainty linked to the fear of graft failure. Hypnosis interventions are proving effective in treating common side effects: nausea, pain, fatigue, anxiety, depressive symptoms and improving overall quality of life, and other interventions, based on virtual reality, have shown promising effects on patients' distress and acute pain. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of an intervention program combining hypnosis and virtual reality in assisting myeloma and lymphoma patients during stem cell transplantation, with a view to improving their quality of life during this period. The project aims to assess the validity of the intervention, and to evaluate the effects of the intervention on patients' anxiety, pain and fatigue during transplantation. The validity of the intervention will be measured by a questionnaire assessing the relevance and acceptability of the intervention, expected effects, and practical implementation. Socio-demographic and clinical data will be collected from patients, including axiety, pain, fatigue and quality of life, studied at pre (one week after transplantation) and post (one month after transplantation) intervnention, and at follow-up (three month after transplantation).

Conditions

• Blood Cancer
• Multiple Myeloma (MM)
• Lymphoma

Interventions

DEVICE

Virtual Reality Hypnosis

An intervention program (VRH) that combines VR and hypnosis; Can use it whenever and how much they want. It contains 200 landscapes in VR and 4 different VRH sessions

DEVICE

VRH : Beach

Hypnosis session with a VR immersion at the beach; one accompanied session

DEVICE

VRH : Forest

Hypnosis session with a VR immersion in forests; one accompanied session

DEVICE

VRH : MagicHand

Hypnosis session with a VR immersion with techniques to reduce pain; one accompanied session

DEVICE

VRH : SecurityProtection

Hypnosis session with a VR immersion with techniques to reduce anxiety; one accompanied session

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ciusss de L'Est de l'Île de Montréal

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• David Ogez, Ph.D · Université de Montréal

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-02-28

Primary Completion

2025-09-30

Completion

2025-12-31

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations