Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40653577›Full record

Trial reportSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025

Virtual reality for outpatient management of cancer pain: a pilot dosing study.

Hunter Groninger, Diana Violanti, Mary Lynn McPherson, Kevin Hopkins, Alaina L Carr, Maria Hurtado, Mihriye Mete

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05442866 (Virtual Reality for Outpatient Cancer Pain Management), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT05442866 nacompletednot on this map

Virtual Reality for Outpatient Cancer Pain Management: a Dosing Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorMedstar Health Research InstituteRan2022 to 2023Enrolled33ConditionsCancer, Cancer PainArmsVirtual reality experience for 10 minutes
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Hunter GroningerMedstar Washington Hospital Center, 110 Irving Street NW, Room 2A68, 20010, Washington, DC, USA. hunter.groninger@medstar.net.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7416-1999
Diana ViolantiRoswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Mary Lynn McPhersonUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Kevin HopkinsMedStar Harbor Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Alaina L CarrGeorgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, USA.
Maria HurtadoMedStar Health Research Institute, Hyattsville, MD, USA.
Mihriye MeteGeorgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA.

Funding

Refinement and Expansion of the Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group (PCRC)U24NR014637 · NINR · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI KUTNER, JEAN S, POLLAK, KATHRYN I · 2013 to 2017
$9.6M
Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group (PCRC): Refinement and ExpansionU2CNR014637 · NINR · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · PI COLBORN, KATHRYN LOUISE · 2018 to 2022
$8.6M
NINR NIH HHS U24 NR014637NINR NIH HHS U2C NR014637NINR NIH HHS U2CNR014637
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeGrowing evidence supports the analgesic benefit of virtual reality (VR) for cancer-related pain. However, little is known about the effects of repeated use in the outpatient setting on chronic cancer pain severity or the ideal "dose" of VR interventions to mitigate cancer pain.

methodsSingle arm unblinded pilot dosing study. Participants were taught how to use and given a Meta Quest 2 VR headset with hand controllers, instructed to use daily × 10 min for 1 week, then twice-daily × 10 min for 1 week, then "as needed" (per participant choice) daily for 1 week. Outcomes were self-reported pain score (SRPS), PROMIS Pain Interference Short Form score, and satisfaction with overall pain management. The study recruited adults living with any solid cancer who reported baseline cancer-related pain ≥ 4/10 from a large urban cancer center in Washington, DC.

resultsThirty-three participants (mean age 55 years (SD = 11); 73% women; 91% African American) were included in the analysis. Linear mixed-effects models demonstrated significant time trends across the 3-week study period for improved SRPS (p = 0.04), pain interference scores (p = 0.001), and satisfaction with overall pain management (p < 0.001). Among participants who had been prescribed as needed opioids to manage their cancer pain, no change was observed in self-reported use of breakthrough opioids (p = 0.49).

conclusionIn this pilot, daily use of VR-delivered distraction therapy improved chronic cancer pain compared to baseline. Twice-daily VR dosing may have helped more than once-daily dosing. Future, larger studies should seek to verify optimal dosing of nonpharmacological VR intervention for cancer pain.

trial registrationNCT05442866 (June 28, 2022).

Indexed as

Cancer PainPain ManagementVirtual RealityAdultAgedAmbulatory CareFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOutpatientsPain MeasurementPatient SatisfactionPilot ProjectsCancerIntegrative medicinePainPalliative careVirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID40653577

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.