Virtual reality for physical and psychological improvement during the treatment of patients with breast cancer: Systematic review

Abstract

During breast cancer treatment, patients face various physical and psychological problems. However, a promising solution has been found in the use of virtual reality as a tool to address these problems. Our goal was to identify the most common problems and symptoms during treatment, as well as investigate the effectiveness of virtual reality in addressing them. We also set out to determine if there are any disadvantages associated with using this system. To this end, we conducted a systematic review using a non-experimental, descriptive, and qualitative-quantitative approach. 20 open access articles were selected in the Scopus database, following established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results revealed that anxiety and pain are the most common symptoms experienced during breast cancer treatment. Regarding the effectiveness of virtual reality to treat these symptoms, differences were found: a significant impact on anxiety was observed (p < 0.001), but no significant impact on pain was found (p < 0.07). In addition, only three studies mentioned the possible presence of cyberdisease as an obstacle. In conclusion, anxiety and pain are the most common symptoms during breast cancer treatment. Virtual reality shows high efficacy in managing anxiety, but its effectiveness in pain management is limited. In addition, technological advances appear to have reduced the occurrence of cyberdisease and associated drawbacks, although little information is available in the studies reviewed.