JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Chronic pain, a common disease, affects many people and is a crucial global public health concern. About 20% of the worldwide population is affected by chronic pain, which accounts for 15% to 20% of hospital visits. In Canada, approximately 7.6 million people — or one in five people — suffer from chronic pain. Among this population, 60% have either lost their employment or experienced a reduction in income as a result of their pain. The proportion of the elderly (65 years and older) with chronic pain is high, comprising one-third of the total elderly population. The causes of chronic pain and its cures are unknown, and patients typically wait a year or more to get pain care. These essential factors make chronic pain patients one of the most vulnerable populations. In addition, the opioid crisis in North America has further exacerbated the vulnerability of chronic pain patients. Treatment is limited by these unknowns and the dangers of opioids. Therefore, the focus is on managing what is often increasing pain and its degenerative sequelae or co-morbidities conditions. Using emerging virtual reality (VR) health technology as an intervention for chronic pain has consistently demonstrated early effectiveness and has been termed a “non-pharmacological analgesic.” Although VR has shown promising impacts, two decades of research have rarely touched on the vulnerabilities of chronic pain patients. Given Canada’s and the US’s aging populations, the impact of chronic pain is expected to increase year after year. Therefore, raising awareness about the vulnerabilities of chronic pain patients is crucial to identifying priorities for VR interventions. However, to reduce the vulnerabilities of chronic pain patients, improve individual patient health, and ensure that technology applications are appropriate, those who use VR interventions face several ethical challenges. As research funding and commercial clinical applications rapidly grow, addressing the tensions between VR and chronic pain patients has emerged as a pressing ethical issue in the life sciences.