A new clinical study from VRHealth cites that breast cancer patients reduced hot flashes and night sweats by 50% using VR-AI therapy coaching environment. In addition, study participants reported significant improvements in their sleep quality and fewer disruptions to their daily lives following a three-week experiment with the VR solution. VRHealth is a digital health company focused on helping clinicians better manage their patients’ care via specialized virtual reality (VR) technology solutions and data analysis.
CBT for Hot Flashes Application
The clinical study conducted by VRHealth evaluated the efficacy of the therapist, which offers a psychological intervention based on cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Breast cancer patients and survivors frequently experience hot flashes and night sweats as a result of chemotherapy or endocrine therapy, which cause changes to hormonal levels. Often distressing and embarrassing, hot flashes interfere with daily life, while night sweats lead to difficulty sleeping and subsequent fatigue—side effects disturbing enough to hinder compliance with anticancer therapies.
The study collected and analyzed demographic, clinical, physiological, and patient-reported outcome data during a ten-month period in 2018. Study participants wore VR goggles every day for 24 days in order to experience the virtual reality of a completely immersive, 360-degree snowy winter scene, dubbed Frosty. They were surveyed before and after the AI-VR intervention to assess their physical and psychological symptoms related to stress, sleep quality, and quality of life.
VR-AI Clinical Study Key Findings
The findings indicate that after daily exposure to the cold-looking AI-VR virtual wintertime world, the breast cancer patients reported 50 percent fewer hot flashes and night sweats. They also found that occurrences were less intense, the psychological distress related to health concerns was diminished, and the level of interference with their daily activities was lowered.
“This clinical research report shows that we’ve developed a highly effective solution for the hot flashes that plague breast cancer patients and survivors, to the extent of improving their overall quality of life,” says VRHealth CEO Eran Orr. “The results validate our protocol for alleviating difficult symptoms with a virtual reality intervention that is therapy-based, non-pharmaceutical, and easy to use.”
