Cargando…

Virtual Reality Combined with Artificial Intelligence (VR-AI) Reduces Hot Flashes and Improves Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study

Background and aims: Breast and ovarian cancers affect the lives of many women worldwide. Female cancer survivors often experience hot flashes, a subjective sensation of heat associated with objective signs of cutaneous vasodilatation and a subsequent drop in core temperature. Breast and Ovarian can...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Horesh, Danny, Kohavi, Shaked, Shilony-Nalaboff, Limor, Rudich, Naomi, Greenman, Danielle, Feuerstein, Joseph S., Abbasi, Muhammad Rashid
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9690775/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36421585
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10112261
_version_ 1784836876980453376
author Horesh, Danny
Kohavi, Shaked
Shilony-Nalaboff, Limor
Rudich, Naomi
Greenman, Danielle
Feuerstein, Joseph S.
Abbasi, Muhammad Rashid
author_facet Horesh, Danny
Kohavi, Shaked
Shilony-Nalaboff, Limor
Rudich, Naomi
Greenman, Danielle
Feuerstein, Joseph S.
Abbasi, Muhammad Rashid
author_sort Horesh, Danny
collection PubMed
description Background and aims: Breast and ovarian cancers affect the lives of many women worldwide. Female cancer survivors often experience hot flashes, a subjective sensation of heat associated with objective signs of cutaneous vasodilatation and a subsequent drop in core temperature. Breast and Ovarian cancer patients also suffer from sleep difficulties and mental health issues. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Bubble, a novel artificial intelligence–virtual reality (AI–VR) intervention for the treatment of hot flashes in female breast or ovarian cancer patients. Methods: Forty-two women with breast and/or ovarian cancer participated in the study. The mean age was 47 years (range: 25–60 years). Patients suffered from hot flashes at different frequencies. They used Bubble, a virtual reality (VR) mobile psychological intervention based on elements from both cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction. The intervention took place in a VR environment, in a winter wonderland setting called Frosty. Patients were instructed to use Bubble at home twice a day (morning and evening) and when experiencing a hot flash. Participants were asked to use the application for 24 consecutive days. Before and after this 24-day period, patients completed self-report questionnaires assessing hot flashes, general psychiatric distress, perceived stress, illness perception, sleep quality, and quality of life. Results: Between pre- and post-intervention, participants reported a significant reduction in the daily frequency of hot flashes, stress, general psychiatric distress, several domains of QOL, and sleep difficulties, as well as an improvement in illness perception. In addition, they reported very high satisfaction with Bubble. Importantly, both age and baseline levels of psychopathology moderated the effect of Bubble on sleep difficulties. Discussion: This study showed preliminary evidence for the potential of VR interventions in alleviating hot flashes and accompanying mental distress among those coping with breast and ovarian cancer. VR is a powerful therapeutic tool, able to address mind–body aspects in a direct, vivid way. More studies are needed in order to fully understand the potential of this unique intervention.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9690775
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-96907752022-11-25 Virtual Reality Combined with Artificial Intelligence (VR-AI) Reduces Hot Flashes and Improves Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study Horesh, Danny Kohavi, Shaked Shilony-Nalaboff, Limor Rudich, Naomi Greenman, Danielle Feuerstein, Joseph S. Abbasi, Muhammad Rashid Healthcare (Basel) Article Background and aims: Breast and ovarian cancers affect the lives of many women worldwide. Female cancer survivors often experience hot flashes, a subjective sensation of heat associated with objective signs of cutaneous vasodilatation and a subsequent drop in core temperature. Breast and Ovarian cancer patients also suffer from sleep difficulties and mental health issues. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Bubble, a novel artificial intelligence–virtual reality (AI–VR) intervention for the treatment of hot flashes in female breast or ovarian cancer patients. Methods: Forty-two women with breast and/or ovarian cancer participated in the study. The mean age was 47 years (range: 25–60 years). Patients suffered from hot flashes at different frequencies. They used Bubble, a virtual reality (VR) mobile psychological intervention based on elements from both cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction. The intervention took place in a VR environment, in a winter wonderland setting called Frosty. Patients were instructed to use Bubble at home twice a day (morning and evening) and when experiencing a hot flash. Participants were asked to use the application for 24 consecutive days. Before and after this 24-day period, patients completed self-report questionnaires assessing hot flashes, general psychiatric distress, perceived stress, illness perception, sleep quality, and quality of life. Results: Between pre- and post-intervention, participants reported a significant reduction in the daily frequency of hot flashes, stress, general psychiatric distress, several domains of QOL, and sleep difficulties, as well as an improvement in illness perception. In addition, they reported very high satisfaction with Bubble. Importantly, both age and baseline levels of psychopathology moderated the effect of Bubble on sleep difficulties. Discussion: This study showed preliminary evidence for the potential of VR interventions in alleviating hot flashes and accompanying mental distress among those coping with breast and ovarian cancer. VR is a powerful therapeutic tool, able to address mind–body aspects in a direct, vivid way. More studies are needed in order to fully understand the potential of this unique intervention. MDPI 2022-11-11 /pmc/articles/PMC9690775/ /pubmed/36421585 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10112261 Text en © 2022 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
Horesh, Danny
Kohavi, Shaked
Shilony-Nalaboff, Limor
Rudich, Naomi
Greenman, Danielle
Feuerstein, Joseph S.
Abbasi, Muhammad Rashid
Virtual Reality Combined with Artificial Intelligence (VR-AI) Reduces Hot Flashes and Improves Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study
title Virtual Reality Combined with Artificial Intelligence (VR-AI) Reduces Hot Flashes and Improves Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study
title_full Virtual Reality Combined with Artificial Intelligence (VR-AI) Reduces Hot Flashes and Improves Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr Virtual Reality Combined with Artificial Intelligence (VR-AI) Reduces Hot Flashes and Improves Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Virtual Reality Combined with Artificial Intelligence (VR-AI) Reduces Hot Flashes and Improves Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study
title_short Virtual Reality Combined with Artificial Intelligence (VR-AI) Reduces Hot Flashes and Improves Psychological Well-Being in Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study
title_sort virtual reality combined with artificial intelligence (vr-ai) reduces hot flashes and improves psychological well-being in women with breast and ovarian cancer: a pilot study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9690775/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36421585
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10112261
work_keys_str_mv AT horeshdanny virtualrealitycombinedwithartificialintelligencevraireduceshotflashesandimprovespsychologicalwellbeinginwomenwithbreastandovariancancerapilotstudy
AT kohavishaked virtualrealitycombinedwithartificialintelligencevraireduceshotflashesandimprovespsychologicalwellbeinginwomenwithbreastandovariancancerapilotstudy
AT shilonynalabofflimor virtualrealitycombinedwithartificialintelligencevraireduceshotflashesandimprovespsychologicalwellbeinginwomenwithbreastandovariancancerapilotstudy
AT rudichnaomi virtualrealitycombinedwithartificialintelligencevraireduceshotflashesandimprovespsychologicalwellbeinginwomenwithbreastandovariancancerapilotstudy
AT greenmandanielle virtualrealitycombinedwithartificialintelligencevraireduceshotflashesandimprovespsychologicalwellbeinginwomenwithbreastandovariancancerapilotstudy
AT feuersteinjosephs virtualrealitycombinedwithartificialintelligencevraireduceshotflashesandimprovespsychologicalwellbeinginwomenwithbreastandovariancancerapilotstudy
AT abbasimuhammadrashid virtualrealitycombinedwithartificialintelligencevraireduceshotflashesandimprovespsychologicalwellbeinginwomenwithbreastandovariancancerapilotstudy