Virtual reality may improve symptoms, quality of life in functional dyspepsia
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Virtual reality significantly improved symptoms and quality of life in a small subset of patients with functional dyspepsia, a presenter said at the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting.
“Functional dyspepsia is a very common disorder of the gut-brain interaction affecting about 10% of the population worldwide, as defined by the ROME IV criteria. ... Despite the prevalence of functional dyspepsia, there are no FDA-approved treatment options right now,” David Cangemi, MD, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, said. “Virtual reality is a very promising intervention that has gained a lot of attention in recent years. It’s been shown to effectively reduce both acute and chronic pain in various clinical settings.”
“In short, we think that VR is an intriguing novel treatment option for functional dyspepsia,” David Cangemi, MD, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, said at the ACG annual scientific meeting.
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In the first randomized, controlled, double-blinded pilot study assessing virtual reality (VR) for the treatment of functional dyspepsia, Cangemi and colleagues enrolled 37 patients (mean age, 45 years; 81.1% women) with functional dyspepsia to investigate the safety and effectiveness of VR as a novel treatment method. Patients in the experimental arm (n = 27) received a VR headset equipped with immersive audiovisual programs, while patients in the control arm (n = 10) received an identical headset equipped with 2-D nature videos.
Participants used their headsets at least daily (average of 1.3 times/day for 23.2 minutes/day) and competed Patient Assessment of Gastrointestinal Disorders-Symptom Severity Index (PAGI-SYM) and Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) questionnaires at baseline, 1 week and at the end of the 2-week study.
According to study results, total PAGI-SYM scores decreased from 2.51 to 0.62 among all patients with greater improvement in mean total PAGI-SYM scores among the experimental group (2.51 to 1.83; mean difference = –0.68) compared with the control group (2.5 to 2.04; mean difference = –0.46).
In addition, NDI quality of life scores increased from 40.97 to 57.14 overall, with greater improvement in the experimental vs. control group (42 to 60.05 vs. 38.19 to 49.28). Non-serious adverse effects occurred among 40.7% and 60% of patients, respectively, but did not lead to study termination.
“Virtual reality resulted in significant overall improvement in symptoms and quality of life in patients with functional dyspepsia,” Cangemi concluded. “Patients in the experimental group who received the immersive 3-D virtual reality saw a numerically greater improvement in their symptom scores and quality of life.”
He added, “In short, we think that VR is an intriguing novel treatment option for functional dyspepsia. Clearly, larger trials of longer duration are needed to explore the true benefits of virtual reality, and we intend to be a part of that movement moving forward.”
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Cangemi A, et al. Abstract S514: Virtual reality improves symptoms of functional dyspepsia: Results of a randomized, controlled, double-blind pilot study. Presented at: ACG Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct. 21-26, 2022; Charlotte, N.C. (hybrid meeting).
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