Cargando…

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visuospatial Memory Stimulation Using Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Cancer Patients—Pilot Study

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The scientific literature is increasingly drawing attention to the adverse effects of cancer treatment on cognitive function. Dedicated mental health support programs for patients diagnosed with cancer are using innovative technologies. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the ef...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Serweta-Pawlik, Anna, Lachowicz, Maciej, Żurek, Alina, Rosen, Bill, Żurek, Grzegorz
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10046573/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36980525
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers15061639
_version_ 1785013707078631424
author Serweta-Pawlik, Anna
Lachowicz, Maciej
Żurek, Alina
Rosen, Bill
Żurek, Grzegorz
author_facet Serweta-Pawlik, Anna
Lachowicz, Maciej
Żurek, Alina
Rosen, Bill
Żurek, Grzegorz
author_sort Serweta-Pawlik, Anna
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: The scientific literature is increasingly drawing attention to the adverse effects of cancer treatment on cognitive function. Dedicated mental health support programs for patients diagnosed with cancer are using innovative technologies. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using virtual reality to stimulate visuospatial memory. The study group included head and neck cancer patients who rarely participate in clinical trials. The results of the pilot study provided information on the feasibility of using virtual reality equipment in this group of patients and showed a favorable trend of changes in the working memory in individual patients. ABSTRACT: The prevalence of Cancer-related Cognitive Impairment (CRCI) in cancer patients necessitates the search for methods to help stimulate cognitive function. An innovative and repeatedly used method in oncology departments is virtual reality (VR). To date, no one has used VR for head and neck cancer patients in an attempt to stimulate their working memory. The goal of our research is to intervene with off-the-shelf VR applications in HNC patients to lower the risk of CRCI. Twenty-two patients with head and neck cancer were enrolled in this pilot study to characterize their visuospatial memory capacity, a form of working memory. During the oncological treatment, the patient had 30 min sessions, three times a week, using publicly available applications of VR. No significant changes were observed in the pre- and post-study. The individual patient results present a favorable trend of changes in their working memory after the intervention: despite oncological treatment, visual-spatial memory did not deteriorate in 88% of patients, including 28% of patients with higher scores than before the intervention. In this pilot study, VR was safely used in patients with head and neck cancer with no negative side effects. The use of VR may prevent CRCI in most HNC patients and, in some, VR may improve their cognitive functioning. A more rigorous study with larger numbers and controls is advised.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10046573
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-100465732023-03-29 Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visuospatial Memory Stimulation Using Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Cancer Patients—Pilot Study Serweta-Pawlik, Anna Lachowicz, Maciej Żurek, Alina Rosen, Bill Żurek, Grzegorz Cancers (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: The scientific literature is increasingly drawing attention to the adverse effects of cancer treatment on cognitive function. Dedicated mental health support programs for patients diagnosed with cancer are using innovative technologies. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using virtual reality to stimulate visuospatial memory. The study group included head and neck cancer patients who rarely participate in clinical trials. The results of the pilot study provided information on the feasibility of using virtual reality equipment in this group of patients and showed a favorable trend of changes in the working memory in individual patients. ABSTRACT: The prevalence of Cancer-related Cognitive Impairment (CRCI) in cancer patients necessitates the search for methods to help stimulate cognitive function. An innovative and repeatedly used method in oncology departments is virtual reality (VR). To date, no one has used VR for head and neck cancer patients in an attempt to stimulate their working memory. The goal of our research is to intervene with off-the-shelf VR applications in HNC patients to lower the risk of CRCI. Twenty-two patients with head and neck cancer were enrolled in this pilot study to characterize their visuospatial memory capacity, a form of working memory. During the oncological treatment, the patient had 30 min sessions, three times a week, using publicly available applications of VR. No significant changes were observed in the pre- and post-study. The individual patient results present a favorable trend of changes in their working memory after the intervention: despite oncological treatment, visual-spatial memory did not deteriorate in 88% of patients, including 28% of patients with higher scores than before the intervention. In this pilot study, VR was safely used in patients with head and neck cancer with no negative side effects. The use of VR may prevent CRCI in most HNC patients and, in some, VR may improve their cognitive functioning. A more rigorous study with larger numbers and controls is advised. MDPI 2023-03-07 /pmc/articles/PMC10046573/ /pubmed/36980525 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers15061639 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Serweta-Pawlik, Anna
Lachowicz, Maciej
Żurek, Alina
Rosen, Bill
Żurek, Grzegorz
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visuospatial Memory Stimulation Using Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Cancer Patients—Pilot Study
title Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visuospatial Memory Stimulation Using Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Cancer Patients—Pilot Study
title_full Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visuospatial Memory Stimulation Using Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Cancer Patients—Pilot Study
title_fullStr Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visuospatial Memory Stimulation Using Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Cancer Patients—Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visuospatial Memory Stimulation Using Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Cancer Patients—Pilot Study
title_short Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visuospatial Memory Stimulation Using Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Cancer Patients—Pilot Study
title_sort evaluating the effectiveness of visuospatial memory stimulation using virtual reality in head and neck cancer patients—pilot study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10046573/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36980525
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers15061639
work_keys_str_mv AT serwetapawlikanna evaluatingtheeffectivenessofvisuospatialmemorystimulationusingvirtualrealityinheadandneckcancerpatientspilotstudy
AT lachowiczmaciej evaluatingtheeffectivenessofvisuospatialmemorystimulationusingvirtualrealityinheadandneckcancerpatientspilotstudy
AT zurekalina evaluatingtheeffectivenessofvisuospatialmemorystimulationusingvirtualrealityinheadandneckcancerpatientspilotstudy
AT rosenbill evaluatingtheeffectivenessofvisuospatialmemorystimulationusingvirtualrealityinheadandneckcancerpatientspilotstudy
AT zurekgrzegorz evaluatingtheeffectivenessofvisuospatialmemorystimulationusingvirtualrealityinheadandneckcancerpatientspilotstudy