Virtual reality for persistent pain: A new direction for behavioral pain management

Keefe, Francis J.; Huling, Dane A.; Coggins, Michael J.; Keefe, Daniel F.; Rosenthal, M. Zachary; Herr, Nathaniel R.; Hoffman, Hunter G.

doi:10.1016/j.pain.2012.05.030

Cited by 145 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

105

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Patients who could experience VR worlds for up to 20 minutes through wearing a headset and chose to travel to Iceland, participated in the work of an art studio or swam with whales in the ocean described the experience as pleasant and capable of reducing pain and anxiety (26).…”

Section: Digital Health Is a Paradigm Shiftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital health is a cultural transformation of traditional healthcare

Meskó¹,

Drobni²,

Bényei³

et al. 2017

mHealth

421

302

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Under the term "digital health", advanced medical technologies, disruptive innovations and digital communication have gradually become inseparable from providing best practice healthcare. While the cost of treating chronic conditions is increasing and doctor shortages are imminent worldwide, the needed transformation in the structure of healthcare and medicine fails to catch up with the rapid progress of the medical technology industry. This transition is slowed down by strict regulations; the reluctance of stakeholders in healthcare to change; and ignoring the importance of cultural changes and the human factor in an increasingly technological world. With access and adoption of technology getting higher, the risk of patients primarily turning to an accessible, but unregulated technological solution for their health problem is likely to increase. In this paper, we discuss how the old paradigm of the paternalistic model of medicine is transforming into an equal level partnership between patients and professionals and how it is aided and augmented by disruptive technologies. We attempt to define what digital health means and how it affects the status quo of care and also the study design in implementing technological innovations into the practice of medicine.

show abstract

Section: Digital Health Is a Paradigm Shiftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital health is a cultural transformation of traditional healthcare

Meskó¹,

Drobni²,

Bényei³

et al. 2017

mHealth

421

302

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Still, it has been argued that distraction from pain-related thoughts and emotions promotes avoidance of psychological factors that contribute to the maintenance of chronic pain (e.g., fear of movement) [15]. This can undermine the effectiveness of distraction-only VR therapies among chronic pain populations who have greater need for rehabilitation than immediate relief [15,16]. To address this consideration, we have conceptualized a two-dimensional hierarchy ranging from 'passive' pain distraction to more 'active' graded-exposure techniques within the same VR-assisted intervention.…”

Section: Virtual Reality and Pain Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Distraction methods (guided imagery, relaxation training, pleasant activities, enhanced attention) are components of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) protocols for chronic pain, [16] including the manualized CBT protocol for chronic pain [8] used throughout the VA. VR distraction has also been associated with a reduction in chronic pain in patients with fibromyalgia [18] and neuropathy [19]. Furthermore, a recent controlled trial conducted in an inpatient acute pain care setting demonstrated reduced pain scores among patients playing a 'medium-intensity' pain distraction VR applications (APPs) compared to a high-definition nature video [20].…”

Section: Virtual Reality-assisted Distraction and Exposure Therapymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Virtual Reality as a Therapy Adjunct for Fear of Movement in Veterans With Chronic Pain: Single-Arm Feasibility Study (Preprint)

Fowler¹,

Ballistrea²,

Mazzone³

et al. 2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, it has been hypothesized that VR may also work by changing the way in which people think and perceive reality. 6 Being able to identify mechanisms of action other than pain distraction, or designing interventions to act specifically on other mechanisms, could have enormous potential in terms of extending the application of VR beyond the clinical setting of acute procedural pain (where most applications have so far been applied [7][8][9] ). Applying the strategy of pain distraction in a situation of nonacute pain outside the clinic is difficult due to the amount of equipment that is needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential Effects of Two Virtual Reality Interventions: Distraction Versus Pain Control

Loreto-Quijada

Gutiérrez-Maldonado²,

Nieto³

et al. 2014

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is evidence that virtual reality (VR) pain distraction is effective at improving pain-related outcomes. However, more research is needed to investigate VR environments with other pain-related goals. The main aim of this study was to compare the differential effects of two VR environments on a set of pain-related and cognitive variables during a cold pressor experiment. One of these environments aimed to distract attention away from pain (VRD), whereas the other was designed to enhance pain control (VRC). Participants were 77 psychology students, who were randomly assigned to one of the following three conditions during the cold pressor experiment: (a) VRD, (b) VRC, or (c) Non-VR (control condition). Data were collected regarding both pain-related variables (intensity, tolerance, threshold, time perception, and pain sensitivity range) and cognitive variables (self-efficacy and catastrophizing). Results showed that in comparison with the control condition, the VRC intervention significantly increased pain tolerance, the pain sensitivity range, and the degree of time underestimation. It also increased self-efficacy in tolerating pain and led to a reduction in reported helplessness. The VRD intervention significantly increased the pain threshold and pain tolerance in comparison with the control condition, but it did not affect any of the cognitive variables. Overall, the intervention designed to enhance control seems to have a greater effect on the cognitive variables assessed. Although these results need to be replicated in further studies, the findings suggest that the VRC intervention has considerable potential in terms of increasing self-efficacy and modifying the negative thoughts that commonly accompany pain problems.

show abstract

Virtual reality for persistent pain: A new direction for behavioral pain management

Cited by 145 publications

References 31 publications

Digital health is a cultural transformation of traditional healthcare

Digital health is a cultural transformation of traditional healthcare

Virtual Reality as a Therapy Adjunct for Fear of Movement in Veterans With Chronic Pain: Single-Arm Feasibility Study (Preprint)

Differential Effects of Two Virtual Reality Interventions: Distraction Versus Pain Control

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About