Virtual reality in the management of patients with low back and neck pain: a retrospective analysis of 82 people treated solely in the metaverse

Archives of Physiotherapy

Research Article

Omer Liran¹  Yaron Sela²  Jeremy Lewis³  Eran Orr⁴  Tal Arbel⁵  Omer Weissberger⁵  Miki Levy⁵ 

[1] Cedars-Sinai, Division of Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA;Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA, USA;School of Psychology, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel;Therapy Department, Central London Community Healthcare National Health Service Trust, Finchley Memorial Hospital, N12 0JE, London, UK;Clinical Therapies, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland;XRHealth Inc, Boston, MA, USA;XRHealth Ltd, Tel Aviv, Israel;

关键词: Virtual reality;    Low back pain;    Neck pain;    Exercise therapy;    Musculoskeletal;    Physiotherapy and rehabilitation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40945-023-00163-8

 received in 2022-10-20, accepted in 2023-03-31,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundClinically, neck pain disorders (NPD) and non-specific low back pain (NS-LBP) are respectively the fourth and first most common conditions associated with the greatest number of years lived with disability. Remote delivery of care may benefit healthcare sustainability, reduce environmental pollution, and free up space for those requiring care non-virtual care.MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on 82 participants with NS-LBP and/or NPD who received exercise therapy delivered solely in the metaverse using virtually reality. The study was to determine if this was achievable, safe, had appropriate outcome measures that could be collected, and if there was any early evidence of beneficial effects.ResultsThe study demonstrated that virtual reality treatment delivered via the metaverse appears to be safe (no adverse events or side effects). Data for more than 40 outcome measures were collected. Disability from NS-LBP was significantly reduced (Modified Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Index) by 17.8% (p < 0.001) and from NPD (Neck Disability Index) by 23.2% (p = 0.02).ConclusionsThe data suggest that this method of providing exercise therapy was feasible, and safe (no adverse events reported), that complete reports were obtained from a large selection of patients, and that software acquired outcomes were obtainable over a range of time points. Further prospective research is necessary to better understand our clinical findings.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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