ReviewJMIR serious games2022
Virtual Reality Applications in Chronic Pain Management: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Review in JMIR serious games, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 104 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Desenvolupament i Avaluació de l'Experiència en Realitat Virtual en la Prova Pilot Per a Pacients Amb Dolor Crònic i Sensibilització Central Als Centres d'Atenció Primària de Badalona Serveis Assistencials
Use of Virtual Reality in Outpatient Management of Pediatric Chronic Pain of Head, Neck and Upper Extremity
A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial Evaluating Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (VR-CBT) as a Prehabilitation Intervention for Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery
Who cites it
104 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 204 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical Effectiveness of Immersive Virtual Reality Exercise Interventions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Virtual Reality-Based Interventions for Promoting Physical Activity in Patients With Heart Failure: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- The effect of virtual reality stimulation on reducing the incidence of delirium among patients admitted to intensive care units: a systematic review study.BMC anesthesiology · 2025Pooled it
- The Efficacy of Virtual Reality on the Rehabilitation of Musculoskeletal Diseases: Umbrella Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- The effectiveness of extended reality on relieving pain after total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Virtual Reality Relaxation for Reducing Aggression and Emotional Distress in At-Risk Adolescents in Israeli Residential Care: A Feasibility Randomized Clinical Trial.Aggressive behavior · 2026Trial
- Best maternal point of visual focusing for minimizing pain and anxiety during second trimester genetic amniocentesis: a randomized trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Trial
- Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial of At-Home Virtual Reality for People With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain on the Waiting List.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Sensory-motor training with virtual reality as a complementary intervention to manual therapy for persistent non-specific neck pain: a randomized controlled trial.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2024Trial
- A New Option for Pain Prevention Using a Therapeutic Virtual Reality Solution for Bone Marrow Biopsy (REVEH Trial): Open-Label, Randomized, Multicenter, Phase 3 Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Trial
- Virtual Reality Induced Awe in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Mixed-Methods Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Developing a Virtual Reality Application for Social and Emotional Wellbeing and Cultural Determinants of Health Support With an Aboriginal Community of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Protocol for an Acceptability and Feasibility Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Emerging technologies in interventional pain management: a scoping review on current innovations and future directions.BMC anesthesiology · 2026Article
- Review
- Immersive Virtual Reality for Pain and Relaxation in Older Adults Following Elective Inpatient Abdominal Surgery: Single-Arm Study Examining Feasibility and Acceptability.JMIR perioperative medicine · 2026Article
- Exposure-based Interventions for Chronic Pain and Bodily Symptoms: A Special Interest Meeting Report.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Article
- Immersive Virtual Reality Exercise: Effects on Cortisol, Quality of Life, Cognitive Function, and Psychological Symptoms in Fibromyalgia.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVirtual reality (VR) is a computer technology that immerses a user in a completely different reality. The application of VR in acute pain settings is well established. However, in chronic pain, the applications and outcome parameters influenced by VR are less clear.
objectiveThis review aimed to systematically identify all outcome parameters that are reported in relation to VR in patients with chronic pain.
methodsA total of 4 electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase) were searched for relevant studies. Multilevel random-effect meta-analyses were performed, whereby the standardized mean difference was chosen as the effect size to denote the difference between measurements before and after a VR intervention.
resultsThe initial database search identified 1430 studies, of which 41 (2.87%) were eventually included in the systematic review. Evidence has been found for the effects of VR on pain, functioning, mobility, functional capacity, psychological outcomes, quality of life, neuropsychological outcomes, and physical sensations. The overall effect size (a total of 194 effect sizes from 25 studies) based on a three level meta-analysis was estimated at 1.22 (95% CI 0.55-1.89; z=3.56; P<.001), in favor of improvements after a VR intervention. When categorizing effect sizes, the overall effect sizes were reported as follows: 1.60 (95% CI 0.83-2.36; z=4.09; P<.001) for the effect of VR on pain (n=31), 1.40 (95% CI 0.13-2.67; z=2.17; P=.03) for functioning (n=60), 0.49 (95% CI -0.71 to 1.68; z=0.80; P=.42) for mobility (n=24), and 0.34 (95% CI -1.52 to 2.20; z=0.36; P=.72) for functional capacity (n=21).
conclusionsThis systematic review revealed a broad range of outcome variables influenced by an intervention of VR technology, with statistically significant pain relief and improvements in functioning. These findings indicate that VR not only has applications in acute pain management but also in chronic pain settings, whereby VR might be able to become a promising first-line intervention as complementary therapy for patients with chronic pain.
trial registrationPROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42021227016; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=227016.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.