Virtual Reality Improved Functional Dyspepsia Symptoms, Quality of Life - Medpage Today

A virtual world headset utilizing bundle consisting of passive and progressive immersive 3D audiovisual programs improved symptoms and prime of beingness for patients with functional dyspepsia, a randomized aviator survey showed.

Compared with a power radical who watched 2D quality videos connected a virtual world headset, those successful the experimental radical experienced greater reductions successful their full Patient Assessment of Gastrointestinal Disorders-Symptom Severity Index (PAGI-SYM) scores from baseline to 2 weeks (2.50 to 2.04 with the 2D videos [P<0.05] vs 2.51 to 1.83 with the virtual world headset [P<0.001]), reported David Cangemi, MD, of the Mayo Clinic successful Jacksonville, Florida.

The experimental patients besides had important improvements successful astir each subscales of the PAGI-SYM, including for little abdominal pain, aboriginal satiety, nausea/vomiting, heartburn, precocious abdominal pain, and bloating, portion power patients lone experienced important improvements successful nausea/vomiting, aboriginal satiety, and heartburn, Cangemi noted successful a presumption during the American College of Gastroenterology yearly meeting.

Although each patients showed betterment successful prime of beingness from baseline to 2 weeks, those successful the experimental radical experienced greater improvement, with higher Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) scores (42 to 60.05) versus the power radical (38.19 vs 49.28).

"We deliberation that virtual world is an intriguing caller attraction enactment for functional dyspepsia," Cangemi said. "Clearly, larger trials of longer durations are needed to research the existent benefits of virtual reality, and we mean to beryllium a portion of that moving forward."

Scott Gabbard, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic successful Ohio, who was not progressive successful this study, told MedPage Today that "virtual world whitethorn assistance to code a important request successful gastroenterology, arsenic determination are presently nary FDA-approved therapies for functional dyspepsia."

Functional dyspepsia is simply a communal gut-brain enactment upset and tin origin nausea, aboriginal satiety, and abdominal pain, among different symptoms. Virtual world has been shown to beryllium a promising involution that alleviates symptom successful galore objective settings, but nary studies person assessed its usage for functional dyspepsia.

Cangemi noted that virtual world is "now recognized by the FDA and regulated by the FDA arsenic a caller signifier of therapy called 'mixed extended reality,'" which is the taxable of ongoing research. Virtual world devices person been approved for different indications, including for chronic little backmost pain erstwhile incorporated with cognitive behavioral therapy, arsenic good arsenic for pediatric amblyopia, oregon lazy eye.

"Virtual world affects symptom cognition by attention, concentration, and emotion alteration," the authors noted successful their presentation. "Immersive environments diminish symptom acquisition by downregulating noxious stimuli and upregulating noxious stimuli and upregulating non-painful neural signaling."

"Really it's the unique, distractive, and immersive constituent that virtual world provides the user, which we deliberation recalibrates the cognition of symptom successful a precise almighty manner," Cangemi said.

For their double-blind study, Cangemi and colleagues randomized 37 adults with functional dyspepsia 2:1 to the experimental attraction oregon control. All patients were asked to usage their headset astatine slightest erstwhile regular for 2 weeks.

"We gave them the state to usage it arsenic overmuch arsenic they'd like. We besides gave them the state to prime whichever programme acceptable them, truthful they could take betwixt passive, active, oregon guided relaxation programming connected the headset," Cangemi explained.

Participants completed validated questionnaires astatine baseline, successful summation to aft 1 and 2 weeks of use.

On average, participants utilized their virtual world headset 1.3 times per time (mean 23.2 minutes per day).

Among some groups, mean property was 45, and 79.5% were women. Of the functional dyspepsia subtypes, 56.4% had post-prandial distress syndrome, 30.8% had epigastric symptom syndrome, and 12.8% had an undefined subtype. About 44% had anxiety, and 23% had depression. As for communal medications used, astir 44% were connected proton pump inhibitors, and 31% were connected antidepressants.

Non-serious adverse events occurred among 17 participants, including 11 successful the experimental group. The astir communal adverse events were headache and dizziness. One experimental diligent withdrew from the survey owed to migraines.