Virtual reality: a distraction intervention for chemotherapy.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Patient Care
• Digital Health

Background:

• Chemotherapy often causes significant symptom distress in cancer patients.
• Distraction interventions are explored to improve patient experience during treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate virtual reality (VR) as a distraction intervention for symptom distress in adults undergoing chemotherapy for breast, colon, and lung cancer.

Main Methods:

• A crossover design was used, with 123 adult cancer patients serving as their own controls.
• Participants received VR distraction during one chemotherapy session and no intervention during an alternate session.
• Symptom distress was measured using validated scales, and VR experience was assessed via questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Patients using VR reported an altered perception of time, confirming its distracting capacity.
• The VR intervention was well-tolerated, with 82% of patients willing to use it again.
• No significant differences in symptom distress were observed immediately or two days post-chemotherapy.

Conclusions:

• While patients found VR enjoyable and treatments subjectively shorter, it did not decrease objective symptom distress.
• Virtual reality is a feasible and cost-effective distraction intervention that may improve treatment tolerability.
• Clinicians should consider VR for patient comfort but not as a primary method for symptom management.