Clinical trial NCT04268901: VR to Reduce Pain/Anxiety During Painful Procedures
Official title: Effectiveness of Virtual Reality to Reduce Pain/Anxiety During Routine Painful Procedures
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Phlebotomy
Orthopedics
Radiology
Pain
Anxiety
Virtual Reality
Allergy
Gastroenterology
Keywords: phlebotomy
radiology
orthopedics
infusion
IV stick
cast removal
pain
anxiety
virtual reality
allergy
gastroenterology
anorectal manometry
Lead sponsor: Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: AppliedVR Inc.
First posted: 2020-02-13
Enrollment: 700
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 7
Maximum age (years): 21
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: This study aims to test the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) as a non-pharmaceutical intervention to reduce pain and anxiety in children undergoing painful procedures in Phlebotomy, Radiology, Infusion, Orthopedics, Gastroenterology, and Immunology, amongst others, at CHLA, as measured by self- and proxy-report. Examples of the painful procedures include IV sticks, cast removals, allergy testing, and anorectal manometries.

Detailed description: Distraction is a form of non pharmacological intervention for reducing pain and anxiety in children during painful medical procedures (e.g., venipuncture, IV placement). Recent technological developments in the area of virtual reality (VR) provide new and potentially more effective ways of distracting children from the pain and anxiety associated with medical procedures. While initial studies of VR pain distraction are promising, few have studied the effectiveness of the technology in children, using a multi-method approach. The current study aims to recruit 240 children ages 7-21 and their caregivers who arrive at the hospital for an outpatient painful medical procedure. Children and their parents will be randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: 1) existing hospital standard of care or 2) standard of care plus distraction via VR. Children and caregivers will be asked to complete measures assessing pain and anxiety both before and after the procedure. In addition, objective measures of child pain and distress during the medical procedure will be taken using coding of behavioral/verbal expressions. Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) will be used to compare differences in primary and secondary outcome variables in VR + standard of care to standard of care only conditions when pre and post-operative measures are available. Univariate ANOVA will be used to compare conditions on post-operative variables.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Inclusion Criteria for Children:

1. Children who are 7-21 years old
2. Children who are English speaking (caregivers may be Spanish English speaking or Spanish speaking)
3. Children who are undergoing a painful medical procedure (e.g., venipuncture, IV placement, PICC lines, wound care, cast removal, botox injections) are eligible to participate in this project.
4. Only children who are in the normal range of development will be recruited for this study. This will be assessed by report from the parents. The rationale for excluding patients with developmental delay is that due to their cognitive impairments, such children react to the stressors of surgery differently than do children without such developmental delay. It is unclear how such children would use the interventions included in this study, and it is likely that their responses on baseline and outcome measures will differ from children of normal developmental parameters.

Inclusion criteria for healthcare providers:

1. Healthcare providers must be 18 years old or older
2. Healthcare providers must be Children's Hospital Los Angeles staff
3. Healthcare providers may participate if they have witnessed and/or administered the medical procedure

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Children who are currently taking pain medication or anxiolytic medication will be excluded from this study.
2. Children with a psychiatric disorder, organic brain syndrome, mental retardation, or other known cognitive/neurological disorders
3. Children with visual, auditory, or tactile deficits that would interfere with the ability to complete the experimental tasks
4. Children with a history of seizure disorder.
5. Children currently sick with flu-like symptoms or experiencing a headache or earache.
6. Children with known or suspected motion sickness

Primary outcomes:
measure: VAS
timeFrame: Approximately 5 minutes to one hour before procedure
measure: Faces Pain Scale (FPS-R)
timeFrame: Approximately 5 minutes to one hour before procedure
measure: Facial Affective Scale
timeFrame: Approximately 5 minutes to one hour before procedure
measure: Child State Anxiety Index (CASI) or Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) if 18 and older
timeFrame: Approximately 5 minutes to one hour before procedure
measure: Malaise Scale
timeFrame: Approximately 5 minutes to one hour before procedure
measure: Child Presence Questionnaire
timeFrame: Approximately 5-15 minutes after procedure
measure: Child Satisfaction Survey
timeFrame: Approximately 5-15 minutes after procedure
measure: Parent Satisfaction Survey
timeFrame: Approximately 5-15 minutes after procedure
measure: Healthcare Provider Survey
timeFrame: Approximately 5-15 minutes after procedure
measure: VAS
timeFrame: Approximately 5-15 minutes after procedure
measure: Faces Pain Scale (FPS-R)
timeFrame: Approximately 5-15 minutes after procedure
measure: Facial Affective Scale
timeFrame: Approximately 5-15 minutes after procedure
measure: Malaise Scale
timeFrame: Approximately 5-15 minutes after procedure
Secondary outcomes:
measure: CAMPIS-R
timeFrame: Peri-procedure
Other outcomes:
measure: Demographic Survey
timeFrame: Approximately 5 minutes to one hour before procedure
Locations:
city: Los Angeles
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital Los Angeles
state: California
Study officials:
affiliation: Children's Hospital Los Angeles
name: Jeffrey I Gold, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Rothbaum BO, Hodges L, Kooper R. Virtual reality exposure therapy. J Psychother Pract Res. 1997 Summer;6(3):219-26.
citation: Schneider SM, Workman ML. Effects of virtual reality on symptom distress in children receiving chemotherapy. Cyberpsychol Behav. 1999;2(2):125-34. doi: 10.1089/cpb.1999.2.125.
citation: Riva G, Bacchetta M, Baruffi M, Rinaldi S, Molinari E. Experiential cognitive therapy: a VR based approach for the assessment and treatment of eating disorders. Stud Health Technol Inform. 1998;58:120-35.
citation: Stanton, D., Foreman, N., Wilson, P., & Duffy, H. (2002). Use of virtual environments to acquire spatial understanding of real world multi-level environments. 13-19. Paper presented at Fourth International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies (ICDVRAT), Vesprem, Hungary.
citation: Parsons TD, Bowerly T, Buckwalter JG, Rizzo AA. A controlled clinical comparison of attention performance in children with ADHD in a virtual reality classroom compared to standard neuropsychological methods. Child Neuropsychol. 2007 Jul;13(4):363-81. doi: 10.1080/13825580600943473.
citation: McComas, J., Pivik, J., & Laflamme, M. (1998). Children's transfer of spatial learning from virtual reality to real environments. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1(2), 121-128. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.1998.1.121
citation: Pugnetti L, Mendozzi L, Barbieri E, Motta A. VR experience with neurological patients: basic cost/benefit issues. Stud Health Technol Inform. 1998;58:243-8.
citation: Hoffman HG, Patterson DR, Carrougher GJ, Sharar SR. Effectiveness of virtual reality-based pain control with multiple treatments. Clin J Pain. 2001 Sep;17(3):229-35. doi: 10.1097/00002508-200109000-00007.
citation: Mahrer NE, Gold JI. The use of virtual reality for pain control: a review. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2009 Apr;13(2):100-9. doi: 10.1007/s11916-009-0019-8.
citation: Malloy KM, Milling LS. The effectiveness of virtual reality distraction for pain reduction: a systematic review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2010 Dec;30(8):1011-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2010.07.001. Epub 2010 Jul 13.
citation: Birnie KA, Noel M, Parker JA, Chambers CT, Uman LS, Kisely SR, McGrath PJ. Systematic review and meta-analysis of distraction and hypnosis for needle-related pain and distress in children and adolescents. J Pediatr Psychol. 2014 Sep;39(8):783-808. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsu029. Epub 2014 Jun 2.
citation: Cohen LL, Rodrigues NP, Lim CS, Bearden DJ, Welkom JS, Joffe NE, McGrath PJ, Cousins LA. Automated parent-training for preschooler immunization pain relief: a randomized controlled trial. J Pediatr Psychol. 2015 Jun;40(5):526-34. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsu162. Epub 2015 Jan 30.
citation: MacLaren JE, Cohen LL. A comparison of distraction strategies for venipuncture distress in children. J Pediatr Psychol. 2005 Jul-Aug;30(5):387-96. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsi062. Epub 2005 Feb 23.
citation: Taddio A, Goldbach M, Ipp M, Stevens B, Koren G. Effect of neonatal circumcision on pain responses during vaccination in boys. Lancet. 1995 Feb 4;345(8945):291-2. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(95)90278-3.
citation: Fradet C, McGrath PJ, Kay J, Adams S, Luke B. A prospective survey of reactions to blood tests by children and adolescents. Pain. 1990 Jan;40(1):53-60. doi: 10.1016/0304-3959(90)91050-S.
citation: Van Cleve L, Johnson L, Pothier P. Pain responses of hospitalized infants and children to venipuncture and intravenous cannulation. J Pediatr Nurs. 1996 Jun;11(3):161-8. doi: 10.1016/S0882-5963(96)80049-2.
citation: Hoffman HG, Garcia-Palacios A, Patterson DR, Jensen M, Furness T 3rd, Ammons WF Jr. The effectiveness of virtual reality for dental pain control: a case study. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2001 Aug;4(4):527-35. doi: 10.1089/109493101750527088.
citation: Hoffman, H. G., Patterson, D. R., Carrougher, G. J., Nakamura, D., Moore, M., Garcia-Palacios, A., & Furness, T. A. III. (2001). The effectiveness of virtual reality pain control with multiple treatments of longer durations: A case study. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 13(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327590IJHC1301_1
citation: Merkel SI, Voepel-Lewis T, Shayevitz JR, Malviya S. The FLACC: a behavioral scale for scoring postoperative pain in young children. Pediatr Nurs. 1997 May-Jun;23(3):293-7.
citation: Gershon J, Zimand E, Pickering M, Rothbaum BO, Hodges L. A pilot and feasibility study of virtual reality as a distraction for children with cancer. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2004 Oct;43(10):1243-9. doi: 10.1097/01.chi.0000135621.23145.05.
citation: Windich-Biermeier A, Sjoberg I, Dale JC, Eshelman D, Guzzetta CE. Effects of distraction on pain, fear, and distress during venous port access and venipuncture in children and adolescents with cancer. J Pediatr Oncol Nurs. 2007 Jan-Feb;24(1):8-19. doi: 10.1177/1043454206296018.