JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Chronic pain is a frequently occurring and worldwide health problem. A treatment option for people with chronic pain is an Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment program (IMPT). A way to broaden the IMPT programs could be the use of Virtual Reality (VR). However, despite the advantages of VR, it is rarely used in daily clinical practice.

Objective:

This research aims to explore how, when and for whom VR can be used in a meaningful way during IMPT, either as an addition or substitution.

Methods:

An action research design was used to let healthcare professionals and patients learn about how, when and for whom they can use VR. Data collection was performed in two specialized centers that provide IMPT for chronic pain, with reflection sessions with the healthcare professionals and semi-structured interviews with the patients. Analyses were performed by directed content analyses by two researchers.

Results:

Four physiotherapists, one occupational therapist, three psychologists, and 20 patients participated in this research. Three iteration cycles were performed within a total of nine reflection sessions and eight semi-structured interviews. Both healthcare professionals and patients experienced VR as useful in therapy as an addition and not a substitution. The VR was used in all patients as a diagnostic and intervention tool either at the rehabilitation center or at home. As a diagnostic tool, the VR was used to gain insight into pain beliefs, cognitions, and physical abilities of the patients. As an intervention tool, the healthcare professionals had roughly three goals: creating a balance between relaxation and competition, graded activity, or exposure in vivo.

Conclusions:

VR could be a useful addition to IMPT for both healthcare professionals and patients with chronic pain. More research should be performed to establish the (additional) effects of VR on the participation of patients in daily life.