Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of virtual reality for pain reduction in adults with acute or chronic pain

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of virtual reality for pain reduction in adults with acute or chronic pain Shahnaz Shahrbanian1*, N. Korner-Biten1 and M. Simmonds1 1 School of Physical & Occupational Therapy,McGill University, Promenade Sir William Osler, Canada Abstract: Pain impacts on physical, psychological and social function and compromises quality of life. Over the past decade there has been a growing interest in the use of virtual reality (VR) in rehabilitation in general and for pain management specifically. The objective of this study was to determine the level of scientific evidence for the effectiveness of immersive and non- immersive VR for pain management in adults with acute (less than or equal to 6 weeks clinical pain or thermal procedural pain), or chronic (more than 12 weeks) pain. A comprehensive systematic search involving all major health care databases was undertaken to identify randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and descriptive studies. Twenty seven studies were identified that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. There was strong (Level 1a) evidence of a greater benefit from immersive VR compared to no therapy or conventional therapy and limited evidence (Level 2a) for the effectiveness of non-immersive VR in reducing acute pain. Moreover, there is limited evidence (Level 2a) of effectiveness of immersive VR compared to no VR or other distraction techniques for reducing chronic pain. There is currently no published study that has explored the effectiveness of non-immersive VR for chronic pain (level 5). It is concluded that VR can be recommended as a standard or adjunct clinical intervention for pain management at least in the management of acute pain. Conference: Annual CyberTherapy and CyberPsychology 2009 conference, Villa Caramora, Italy, 21 Jun - 23 Jun, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Abstracts Citation: Shahrbanian S, Korner-Biten N and Simmonds M (2009). Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of virtual reality for pain reduction in adults with acute or chronic pain. Front. Neuroeng. Conference Abstract: Annual CyberTherapy and CyberPsychology 2009 conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.14.2009.06.108 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 23 Mar 2009; Published Online: 23 Mar 2009. * Correspondence: Shahnaz Shahrbanian, School of Physical & Occupational Therapy,McGill University, Promenade Sir William Osler, Montréal, Canada, shahrbanian@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Shahnaz Shahrbanian N. Korner-Biten M. Simmonds Google Shahnaz Shahrbanian N. Korner-Biten M. Simmonds Google Scholar Shahnaz Shahrbanian N. Korner-Biten M. Simmonds PubMed Shahnaz Shahrbanian N. Korner-Biten M. Simmonds Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.