The Impact of VR-CALM Intervention Based on VR on Psychological Distress and Symptom Management in Breast Cancer Survivors

Xiuqing Zhang; Senbang Yao; Menglian Wang; Xiangxiang Yin; Ziran Bi; Yanyan Jing; Huaidong Cheng

doi:10.1155/2022/1012813

The Impact of VR-CALM Intervention Based on VR on Psychological Distress and Symptom Management in Breast Cancer Survivors

J Oncol. 2022 Jun 7:2022:1012813. doi: 10.1155/2022/1012813. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiuqing Zhang^{1

2}, Senbang Yao^{1

2}, Menglian Wang^{1

2}, Xiangxiang Yin^{1

2}, Ziran Bi^{1

2}, Yanyan Jing^{1

2}, Huaidong Cheng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
² Department of Oncology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully based on VR (VR-CALM), which is used to manage expected symptoms of cancer itself, relieve psychological distress, and improve quality of life (QOL) in the Chinese breast cancer survivors (BCs).

Methods: Ninety-eight patients with breast cancer were recruited in this study. These patients were randomly assigned to the VR-CALM group or the care as usual (CAU) group. All patients were evaluated by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast cancer patient (FACT-B), Distress Thermometer (DT), Concerns About Recurrence Scale (CARS), Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and The Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) before and after VR-CALM or CAU application to BCs. We compared the differences in all these scores between the VR-CALM group and the control group.

Results: Patients in the VR-CALM group showed a significant decrease in levels of distress, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and fatigue (t = -6.829, t = -5.819, t = -2.094, t = -3.031, t = -10.082, P ≤ 0.001, 0.001, 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, respectively) and had higher level of quality of life (t = 8.216, P ≤ 0.001) compared with the CAU group after intervention. And postintervention patients in VR-CALM group compared with preintervention showed lower level of distress and remarkable improvement of QOL (t = 11.521, t = -10.379, P ≤ 0.001, 0.001). The preintervention questionnaire revealed no significant between-group differences regarding distress, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, fatigue, and quality of life.

Conclusion: VR-CALM is a psychotherapy tailored to the needs of patients with breast cancer. This research innovatively used VR-based CALM intervention to improve psychological and chronic symptoms in BCs. The results of the present study indicate that VR-CALM has salutary effects on the improvement of QOL and relieves psychological distress, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and fatigue in BCs.