Ethical Challenges of Virtual Reality Technology Interventions for the Vulnerabilities of Patients With Chronic Pain: Exploration of Technician Responsibility.

Chronic pain, a common disease, is a crucial global public health concern. Approximately 20% of the worldwide population is affected by chronic pain, which accounts for 15% to 20% of hospital visits. In Canada, approximately 7.

"I Dreamed of My Hands and Arms Moving Again": A Case Series Investigating the Effect of Immersive Virtual Reality on Phantom Limb Pain Alleviation.

Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a type of chronic pain that follows limb amputation, brachial plexus avulsion injury, or spinal cord injury. Treating PLP is a well-known challenge. Currently, virtual reality (VR) interventions are attracting increasing attention because they show promising analgesic effects.

Designing a Virtual Reality Game for Promoting Empathy Toward Patients With Chronic Pain: Feasibility and Usability Study.

Background: Many researchers have been evaluating how digital media may impact the emotional and perspective taking aspects of empathy in both clinical and nonclinical settings. Despite the growing interest in using virtual reality (VR) and VR games to motivate empathy, few studies have focused on empathy for people who live with chronic pain.

Objective: Chronic pain affects, by conservative estimates, 1 in 5 people in industrialized countries.

Effects of a 12-Week Multifaceted Wearable-Based Program for People With Knee Osteoarthritis: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Current guidelines emphasize an active lifestyle in the management of knee osteoarthritis (OA), but up to 90% of patients with OA are inactive. In a previous study, we demonstrated that an 8-week physiotherapist (PT)-led counseling intervention, with the use of a Fitbit, improved step count and quality of life in patients with knee OA, compared with a control.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effect of a 12-week, multifaceted wearable-based program on physical activity and patient outcomes in patients with knee OA.

Efficacy of a Physical Activity Counseling Program With Use of a Wearable Tracker in People With Inflammatory Arthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of a multifaceted counseling intervention at improving physical activity participation and patient outcomes.

Methods: We recruited people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In weeks 1-8, the immediate group received education and counseling by a physical therapist, used a Fitbit and a web application to obtain feedback about their physical activity, and received 4 follow-up calls from the physical therapist.

Virtual Reality Clinical Research: Promises and Challenges.

Background: Virtual reality (VR) therapy has been explored as a novel therapeutic approach for numerous health applications, in which three-dimensional virtual environments can be explored in real time. Studies have found positive outcomes for patients using VR for clinical conditions such as anxiety disorders, addictions, phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, stroke rehabilitation, and for pain management.

Objective: This work aims to highlight key issues in the implementation of clinical research for VR technologies.

Using Physical Activity Trackers in Arthritis Self-Management: A Qualitative Study of Patient and Rehabilitation Professional Perspectives.

Objective: To compare and contrast the perspectives of patients with arthritis and those of rehabilitation professionals regarding starting and sustaining use of physical activity trackers (PATs).

Methods: We conducted focus group sessions with patients, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists in Ontario, Alberta, or British Columbia, Canada. To be eligible, patients must have self-reported a diagnosis of inflammatory or osteoarthritis.

A technology-enabled Counselling program versus a delayed treatment control to support physical activity participation in people with inflammatory arthritis: study protocol for the OPAM-IA randomized controlled trial.

Background: Being physically active is an essential component of successful self-management for people with inflammatory arthritis; however, the vast majority of patients are inactive. This study aims to determine whether a technology-enabled counselling intervention can improve physical activity participation and patient outcomes.

Methods: The Effectiveness of Online Physical Activity Monitoring in Inflammatory Arthritis (OPAM-IA) project is a community-based randomized controlled trial with a delayed control design.

Usability Comparisons of Head-Mounted vs. Stereoscopic Desktop Displays in a Virtual Reality Environment with Pain Patients.

Researchers have shown that immersive Virtual Reality (VR) can serve as an unusually powerful pain control technique. However, research assessing the reported symptoms and negative effects of VR systems indicate that it is important to ascertain if these symptoms arise from the use of particular VR display devices, particularly for users who are deemed "at risk," such as chronic pain patients Moreover, these patients have specific and often complex needs and requirements, and because basic issues such as 'comfort' may trigger anxiety or panic attacks, it is important to examine basic questions of the feasibility of using VR displays. Therefore, this repeated-measured experiment was conducted with two VR displays: the Oculus Rift's head-mounted display (HMD) and Firsthand Technologies' immersive desktop display, DeepStream3D.

A Virtual Reality Game for Chronic Pain Management: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Study.

Although Virtual Reality (VR) applications have been shown to reduce many forms of acute pain, such research of VR applications and their effects on chronic pain is still at its infancy. In this study, we designed a VR game Cryoslide, and examined its analgesic effect on chronic pain patients, its end users, in a clinical setting. In this randomized, controlled crossover clinical study of 20 chronic pain patients, Cryoslide significantly reduced perceived pain compared to the baseline and the control group.

A rapid evidence assessment of immersive virtual reality as an adjunct therapy in acute pain management in clinical practice.

Objectives: Immersive virtual reality (IVR) therapy has been explored as an adjunct therapy for the management of acute pain among children and adults for several conditions. Therapeutic approaches have traditionally involved medication and physiotherapy but such approaches are limited over time by their cost and side effects. This review seeks to critically evaluate the evidence for and against IVR as an adjunctive therapy for acute clinical pain applications.

Usability testing of ANSWER: a web-based methotrexate decision aid for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Decision aids are evidence-based tools designed to inform people of the potential benefit and harm of treatment options, clarify their preferences and provide a shared decision-making structure for discussion at a clinic visit. For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are considering methotrexate, we have developed a web-based patient decision aid called the ANSWER (Animated, Self-serve, Web-based Research Tool). This study aimed to: 1) assess the usability of the ANSWER prototype; 2) identify strengths and limitations of the ANSWER from the patient's perspective.