Clinical trial NCT06154850: Effects of Virtual Reality on Brain Hemodynamic Activity in Chronic Pain
Official title: Effects of Virtual Reality on Brain Hemodynamic Activity in Chronic Pain
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Chronic Pain
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Virtual Reality
Lead sponsor: Acibadem University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kirdar City Hospital
First posted: 2023-12-04
Enrollment: 15
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 55
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Virtual reality systems have been applied in recent years to reduce pain intensity and fear of movement in individuals with acute and chronic pain. The main mechanism of virtual reality methods in pain control is to provide the effect of distraction from pain. Virtual reality systems allow the individuals to feel themselves in a different environment and shift their attention to the game they are playing or the virtual world created rather than the pain they feel. This is thought to be the main mechanism of pain control. However, the cortical mechanism of the reduction in pain caused by virtual reality methods, especially in individuals with chronic pain, has not been fully elucidated.

It is predicted that the integration of virtual reality methods into treatment protocols will gradually increase by time, especially as a result of the reflection of technological developments in clinical practice. At this point, fNIRS, which enables the assessment of the functionality of brain areas during movement, has the potential to reveal the response of the effect provided by virtual reality technology in the prefrontal cortex.

The aims of our study were to examine brain hemodynamic activity during the experience of non-immersive and immersive virtual reality environments and the change in pain intensity after virtual reality applications in individuals with rheumatic diseases with chronic pain.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis,
* Right hand dominant,

Exclusion criteria:

* A history of acute pain up to 3 days prior to the date of evaluation,
* Any psychiatric and neurological diagnosis,
* Have a cognitive problem that prevents them from adapting to the working procedure,
* Using centrally acting medications and anti-depressants.
* Presence of neuropathic pain,
* Presence of vision or hearing problems,
* Any psychiatric and neurological diagnosis

Primary outcomes:
measure: Functional near infrared spectrosopy
timeFrame: During the intervention
measure: Numeric Pain Rating Scale
timeFrame: Immediately after the intervention
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Perceived Level of Fun
timeFrame: Immediately after the intervention
measure: Heart rate variability
timeFrame: During the intervention
Other outcomes:
measure: Pain Catastrophizing Scale
timeFrame: Pre-intervention
measure: Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale
timeFrame: Pre-intervention
measure: Adverse effects
timeFrame: Immediately after the intervention
measure: Pain Detect Questionnaire
timeFrame: Pre-intervention
Locations:
city: Istanbul
country: Turkey
facility: Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University
Study officials:
References: