The Interplay Between Health Disparities and Acceptability of Virtual Reality: A Survey Study

Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a nonpharmacological adjuvant to manage acute and chronic pain symptoms. The goal of this survey study was to determine the acceptability of VR among chronic pain participants hailing from distressed and prosperous neighborhoods in the state of Maryland. We hypothesized that pain severity and interference vary in groups experiencing health disparities, potentially influencing VR's acceptability. From March 11 to March 15, 2020, we surveyed a cohort of clinically phenotyped participants suffering from chronic orofacial pain. Participants were asked to express their willingness to participate in a longitudinal VR study and their expectation of pain relief from using VR. Seventy out of 350 participants with chronic pain completed the survey (response rate: 20%). There was no difference in the likelihood of responding to the survey based on their neighborhood distress. Among survey respondents and nonrespondents, similar proportions of participants were from distressed neighborhoods. Among the respondents, 63 (90%) and 59 (84.3%) were willing to participate and expected to experience pain relief from the VR intervention, respectively. Age, sex, race, neighborhood distress, severity of pain, and prior VR experience did not influence willingness to participate in the VR trial or the expectations of VR-induced improvement. These findings suggest that VR as an adjuvant intervention is potentially accepted by chronic pain participants, irrespective of neighborhood-level social determinants of health.