Effect of virtual reality on time perception in patients receiving chemotherapy

Abstract

Purpose Virtual reality (VR) during chemotherapy has resulted in an elapsed time compression effect, validating the attention diversion capabilities of VR. Using the framework of the pacemaker–accumulator cognitive model of time perception, this study explored the influence of age, gender, state anxiety, fatigue, and cancer diagnosis in predicting the difference between actual time elapsed during receipt of intravenous chemotherapy while immersed in a VR environment versus patient’s retrospective estimates of time elapsed during this treatment. Materials and methods This secondary analysis from three studies yielded a pooled sample of N=137 participants with breast, lung, or colon cancer. Each study employed a crossover design requiring two matched intravenous chemotherapy treatments, with participants randomly assigned to receive VR during one treatment. Regressions modeled the effect of demographic variables, diagnosis, and Piper Fatigue Scale and State Anxiety Inventory scores on the difference between actual and estimated time elapsed during chemotherapy with VR. Results In a forward regression model, three predictors (diagnosis, gender, and anxiety) explained a significant portion of the variability for altered time perception (F=5.06, p=0.0008). Diagnosis was the strongest predictor; individuals with breast and colon cancer perceived time passed more quickly. Conclusions VR is a noninvasive intervention that can make chemotherapy treatments more tolerable. Women with breast cancer are more likely and lung cancer patients less likely to experience altered time perception during VR (a possible indicator of effectiveness for this distraction intervention). Understanding factors that predict responses to interventions can help clinicians tailor coping strategies to meet each patient’s needs.

Patient perceptions of an art-making experience in an outpatient blood and marrow transplant clinic

“…Limited research exists regarding how patients occupy their time during treatment (Schneider et al 2010). Limited research exists regarding how patients occupy their time during treatment (Schneider et al 2010).…”

Virtual Reality in Health System: Beyond Entertainment. A Mini‐Review on the Efficacy of VR During Cancer Treatment

“…Of all the 19 studies reviewed, 8 (Kaneda and Jatsumata, 1999;Schneider and Workman, 1999;Oyama et al, 2000;Schneider et al, 2000Schneider et al, ,2003Schneider et al, , 2004Schneider et al, , 2011Schneider and Hood, 2007) evaluated the efficacy of a VR intervention in order to relieve patients' symptom distress due to chemotherapy treatment. All of these found a reduction of patients' distress in terms of cancer-related symptoms, it was detected a significant decrease in anxiety, distress, and fatigue immediately after chemotherapy sessions with VR.…”

Clinical Virtual Reality tools to advance the prevention, assessment, and treatment of PTSD

“…This recognition of the potential impact of VR technology has led to the emergence of a significant, albeit still maturing, research literature that documents the many clinical and research targets where VR can add value relative to traditional assessment and intervention methods. A short list of the areas where Clinical VR has been usefully applied includes fear reduction in persons with specific phobias (Morina et al, 2015; Opris et al, 2012; Parsons & Rizzo, 2008; Powers & Emmelkamp, 2008), treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (Beidel, Frueh, Neer, & Lejuez, 2017; Botella et al, 2015; Difede & Hoffman, 2002; Difede et al, 2007, 2014; Maples-Keller et al, 2017; McLay et al, 2011; Rizzo et al, 2010, 2013, 2017; Rothbaum, Hodges, Ready, Graap, & Alarcon, 2001; Rothbaum et al, 2014), cue-exposure for addiction and relapse prevention (Hone-Blanchet, Wensing, & Fecteau, 2014; Yoon et al, 2014), depression (Falconer et al, 2016), paranoid delusions (Freeman et al, 2016), discomfort reduction in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (Schneider, Kisby, & Flint, 2010), acute pain reduction during wound care and physical therapy with burn patients (Hoffman et al, 2011), other painful procedures (Gold et al, 2006; Mosadeghi, Reid, Martinez, Rosen, & Spiegel, 2016), body image disturbances in patients with eating disorders (Riva, 2011), navigation and spatial training in children and adults with motor impairments (John, Pop, Day, Ritsos, & Headleand, 2017), functional skill training and motor rehabilitation in patients with central nervous system dysfunction (e.g. stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, etc.)…”