VR for Symptom Control and Wellbeing
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The use of virtual reality for symptom control and wellbeing in palliative care and oncology patients
IRAS ID
296914
Contact name
John McGrane
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Cornwall Hospital
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The study is looking to investigate the effect that a Virtual Reality (VR) experience can have on patient symptoms and wellbeing for palliative care and oncology inpatients at RCHT.
Multiple techniques exist for holistic symptom management but we believe that VR is under-utilised for this purpose with evidence suggesting its effectiveness but little use so far in clinical practice. We believe that the power of VR to fully immerse a patient into an experience is superior to those offered by other multimedia methods and a potential useful adjuvant to conventional therapy. It is cost effective and commercially available technology with a growing array of equipment and devices.
We are looking to recruit 60 patients over a 12 month period; once consented and screened, participants will be asked to complete a baseline ESAS-r Quality of Life Questionnaire (the ESAS-r QoL Questionnaire has previously been used to study VR use in hospice settings). It is validated for assessment of symptoms in a palliative care setting and comprises 9 questions with scores from 0 to 10.
Following suitable training and support in how to use the virtual reality equipment, participants will then be able to select an immersive experiences to complete. After completing the VR experience a second ESAS-r questionnaire will be completed by the participant.
Participants will also be asked to answer two short qualitative and quantitative questions after completing the VR experience to assess overall VR experience plus any side effects.
Clinicians supporting the VR experience will also be asked to provide a subjective quantitative score of participants VR experience from 0 to 10.
REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
21/NI/0094
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jun 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion