1717P Use of immersive virtual reality for management of anxiety and depression among chemotherapy-naïve Filipino breast cancer outpatients in a national university hospital

Abstract

Background: This study assessed the efficacy of immersive virtual reality (VR) as an adjunct in the management of treatment-related anxiety and depression among breast cancer outpatients undergoing chemotherapy at the University of the Philippines -Philippine General Hospital Cancer Institute. Methods:In this open-label phase II randomized control trial, participants were randomly assigned into two groups during their first cycle of chemotherapy e the intervention group who were subjected to immersive VR experience using VR Box 3D goggle sets plus standard-of-care and the control group who received standard-ofcare only. Anxiety and depression scores of at-risk breast cancer patients were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale -Pilipino (HADS-P) questionnaire before and after chemotherapy. The influence of clinico-demographic factors on the mean difference of HADS-P scores was explored. Pre-and postchemotherapy blood pressures, heart rates, and respiratory rates were also determined. Results:The investigators were able to screen 114 patients and 65.8% (n¼75) had a HADS-P score of 11. The proportion of patients who were at-risk to develop treatment-related anxiety and depression was 73.5% (n¼50) and 22.1% (n¼15), respectively. A total of 68 patients were included in the randomization. Statistically significant mean differences of j-2.71j and j-4.74j (p<0.05) in the pre-and postchemotherapy HADS-P scores between the control group and intervention group were reported. Changes in mean arterial pressures, heart rates, and respiratory rates pre-and post-chemotherapy were not statistically significant.Conclusions: In this study, the investigators observed that immersive VR could potentially decrease the level of treatment-related anxiety and depression of at-risk breast cancer outpatients undergoing chemotherapy.