Objectives: Managing cancer symptoms while patients receive systemic treatment remains a challenge in oncology. The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches like virtual reality (VR) and neurofeedback (NF) in tandem with systemic treatment might reduce symptom burden for patients. The combination of VR + NF as a CAM intervention approach is novel and understudied, particularly as it relates to supportive cancer care. The purpose of this study is to summarize our VR + NF study protocol and share preliminary results regarding study retention (across 2 treatment sessions) and preliminary impact of VR or VR + NF on patient-reported outcomes such as anxiety and pain.
Methods: We utilized a parallel arm trial design to compare preliminary impact of VR only and VR + NF on cancer symptoms among patients who are actively receiving cancer treatment.
Results: Sixty-seven percent (n = 20) of participants returned to participate in a second VR session, and the rates of return were the same between the VR groups. Patients in the VR + NF group showed improvements in anxiety after both sessions, while patients in the VR only group showed significant improvements in pain and depression after both sessions. Patients in the VR + NF group showed improved pain after session 1.
Significance of results: This study demonstrates that patients can be retained over multiple treatment sessions and that VR and NF remain promising treatment approaches with regard to impact on patient-reported outcomes like anxiety and pain.
Keywords: Cancer; complementary and alternative medicine; neurofeedback; symptom management; virtual reality.