RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Connection with nature has well-established physical and psychological benefits. However, women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) are often unable to access nature because of physical limitations, psychological barriers, and treatment demands. Virtual reality (VR) nature experiences offer an alternative means of connecting with nature and may be of particular benefit to patients with cancer who are house- or hospital-bound. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore whether VR nature experiences are associated with physical and psychological benefits for women with MBC who are disconnected with nature. METHODS: This secondary analysis of a previous randomized controlled crossover trial recruited participants from the emailing lists of breast cancer support organizations. Participants were provided VR headsets for daily use in their homes for over 3 weeks. In the first week, participants used 1 of 2 VR nature experiences (Ripple or Happy Place) daily, followed by a 1-week washout period, before using the other VR experience every day for the final week. Outcomes assessed changes between baseline and postintervention scores in quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), pain (Brief Pain Inventory Short Form), fatigue (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-fatigue), depression (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-depression), anxiety (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-anxiety), and spiritual well-being (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy- Spiritual Well-being) and investigated whether benefits were greater in participants who were not strongly connected with nature at baseline. RESULTS: A total of 38 women with MBC completed the VR interventions and were included in the analyses. Participants reported significantly less fatigue (P=.001), less depression (P<.001), and greater quality of life (P=.02) following the interventions than at baseline. Women with a weaker connection to nature reported greater fatigue (P=.03), depression (P=.006), and anxiety (P=.001), and poorer spirituality (P=.004) than their strongly connected counterparts. Only those with a weaker baseline connection with nature showed improvements in depression following the intervention (P=.03), with similar trends observed in fatigue (P=.07) and quality of life (P=.10). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that feeling connected with nature is associated with better physical and psychological status in patients with MBC and that VR nature interventions might be beneficial for this clinical population. Future studies should focus on activities that encourage connection with nature (rather than simply exposure to nature) and investigate the aspects of VR nature interventions that have the greatest therapeutic potential. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12619001480178; https://tinyurl.com/et6z3vac.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) report debilitating physical and psychological symptoms, including fatigue, anxiety, and pain, that greatly impact their quality of life. Immersive virtual reality (VR) has been proposed as an adjunctive pain therapy for patients with cancer, and evidence suggests it may also decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess whether VR should be pursued as a feasible and acceptable adjunctive therapy to alleviate physical and psychological symptoms in women with MBC. METHODS: We conducted a pilot study testing the acceptability and efficacy of VR interventions with MBC patients to improve quality of life and to produce enduring decreases in fatigue, pain, depression, anxiety, and stress. Participants completed two different week-long VR experiences, reporting the prevalence of symptoms immediately before and after each study week, and 48 h later. Linear mixed models including fixed effects (VR intervention, counterbalancing order, and study week) and random effects (participant) were used to assess the effect of immersive VR on all outcome measures. RESULTS: Thirty-eight women with MBC completed the VR interventions and were included in analyses. Significant improvements post-intervention and/or 48 h later were demonstrated for quality of life, fatigue, pain, depression, anxiety, and stress. Across the entire study period, these differences met the criteria of a clinically important difference for quality of life, fatigue, depression, and stress. Participants reported feelings of relaxation and enjoyment and were highly likely to use the interventions gain. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that VR experiences offer enduring benefits to the physical and psychological well-being of women with MBC. VR interventions are a feasible and acceptable intervention that can be conducted in a patient's own home. Such interventions are worthy of future investigation as a novel approach to improving quality of life in a patient population that have often been overlooked. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Prospectively registered on 25th October 2019 with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ref: ACTRN12619001480178 ).
