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Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Date Submitted: Mar 25, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 25, 2022 - May 20, 2022
Date Accepted: Feb 27, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Virtual Reality Intervention for Patients With Neck Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Gao Q, Guo Q, Zhang L, Gui C, Chen G, Chen Y, Tan H, Su W, Zhang R

Virtual Reality Intervention for Patients With Neck Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

J Med Internet Res 2023;25:e38256

DOI: 10.2196/38256

PMID: 37010891

PMCID: 10131665

Virtual Reality Intervention for Patients with Neck Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

  • Qiang Gao; 
  • Qifan Guo; 
  • LIMing Zhang; 
  • Chenfan Gui; 
  • Guanghui Chen; 
  • Yi Chen; 
  • Huixin Tan; 
  • Wei Su; 
  • Ruishi Zhang

ABSTRACT

Background:

Neck pain is a prevalent condition and causes an enormous healthcare burden due to the lacking of efficient therapies. As a promising technologies, Virtual reality (VR) had shown its advantages in orthopedic rehabilitation. However, there is no meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of VR in neck pain management.

Objective:

To review original randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of virtual reality for neck pain and provide evidence for the clinical application of a new alternative approach for pain management.

Methods:

Nine electronic databases were systematically searched for relevant articles published from inception to February 2022. Randomized controlled trials in English or Chinese that investigated VR therapy in patients with neck pain were included. The methodological quality and evidence level were assessed using the Cochrane Back and Neck (CBN) Risk of Bias tool and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) guideline, respectively.

Results:

Seven studies including 348 participants were included for final analysis. As for the pain intensity, the overall pooled effect size was 0.51 (standard mean difference[SMD] -0.51, 95% confidence interval[CI] -0.98 to -0.04), favouring VR therapy compared with controls. Subgroups analyses revealed that significant differences in pain intensity were found in the multimodal intervention (VR in combination with other therapies) than other interventions (SMD -0.43, 95% CI -0.81 to -0.05), and better analgesic effects were also observed in patients with chronic neck pain receiving VR intervention than controls (SMD -0.74, 95% CI -1.21 to -0.28). Regarding other health outcomes, the VR group could lead to less disability, lower level of kinesiophobia and greater kinematic function (cervical range of motion[CROM], mean and peak velocity). Nevertheless, the follow-up effects of VR therapy on pain intensity and disability was not found.

Conclusions:

VR is a beneficial non-pharmacological approach to improve pain intensity in patients with neck pain, with advantages to multimodal intervention and subjects with chronic neck pain. However, limited quantity and high heterogeneity across articles limit our findings.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Gao Q, Guo Q, Zhang L, Gui C, Chen G, Chen Y, Tan H, Su W, Zhang R

Virtual Reality Intervention for Patients With Neck Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

J Med Internet Res 2023;25:e38256

DOI: 10.2196/38256

PMID: 37010891

PMCID: 10131665

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