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Personalised virtual reality in palliative care: clinically meaningful symptom improvement for some
  1. Kaylin Altman1,
  2. Dimitrios Saredakis1,
  3. Hannah Keage1,
  4. Amanda Hutchinson1,
  5. Megan Corlis2,
  6. Ross T Smith3,
  7. Gregory Brian Crawford4,5 and
  8. Tobias Loetscher1
  1. 1Justice & Society, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
  2. 2Australian Nursing and Midwifery Education Centre, Adelaide, Australia
  3. 3Australian Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  4. 4Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  5. 5Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Tobias Loetscher, Justice & Society, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia; tobias.loetscher{at}unisa.edu.au

Abstract

Objectives This study examined the effects of virtual reality (VR) among palliative care patients at an acute ward. Objectives included evaluating VR therapy benefits across three sessions, assessing its differential impact on emotional versus physical symptoms and determining the proportion of patients experiencing clinically meaningful improvements after each session.

Methods A mixed-methods design was employed. Sixteen palliative inpatients completed three personalised 20 min VR sessions. Symptom burden was assessed using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale-Revised and quality of life with the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT-Pal-14). Standardised criteria assessed clinically meaningful changes. Quantitative data were analysed using linear mixed models.

Results Quality of life improved significantly pre-VR to post-VR with a large effect size (Cohen’s d: 0.98). Total symptom burden decreased after 20 min VR sessions (Cohen’s d: 0.75), with similar effect sizes for emotional (Cohen’s d: 0.67) and physical symptoms (Cohen’s d: 0.63). Over 50% of patients experienced clinically meaningful improvements per session, though substantial individual variability occurred.

Conclusions This study reveals the nuanced efficacy of personalised VR therapy in palliative care, with over half of the patients experiencing meaningful benefits in emotional and physical symptoms. The marked variability in responses underscores the need for realistic expectations when implementing VR therapy.

  • Quality of life
  • Complementary therapy
  • Hospital care
  • Psychological care

https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2024-004815

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Conceptualisation: TL, DS, HK, AH, MC, RTS and GBC. Methodology: DS, TL and GBC. Data Collection: DS and KA. Analysis: TL, KA and DS. Writing–original draft KA. Writing–review and editing: all authors.

    • Funding This research was supported by the Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.