ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Digit. Health

Sec. Human Factors and Digital Health

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1505861

This article is part of the Research TopicEnabling the Medical Extended Reality ecosystem - Advancements in Technology, Applications and Regulatory ScienceView all 5 articles

RUNNING HEAD: Virtual Reality-Guided Imagery for Chronic Pain Feasibility, Acceptability, Patient Experience, and Preliminary Efficacy of a Virtual Reality-Guided Imagery (VR-GI) Intervention for Chronic Pain

Provisionally accepted
lauren Doanlauren Doan1Ian MillerIan Miller1Elsie VierraElsie Vierra1Steven RicheimerSteven Richeimer2Marc RecasensMarc Recasens3Jessica LakeJessica Lake1Iris YaoIris Yao2Doerte U. JunghaenelDoerte U. Junghaenel4Faye WeinsteinFaye Weinstein2*
  • 1Limbix Health, San Francisco, CA, United States
  • 2Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
  • 3BehaVR, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
  • 4University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Objectives. Guided imagery is a strategy utilized in chronic pain management by patients. Benefits are cumulative via ongoing application. Engagement via Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming more accessible as a strategy to enhance adherence, use and benefit of guided imagery. We conducted a preliminary investigation of the feasibility, acceptability, patient experience, and efficacy of the use of VR for patients with chronic pain to use at home. Methods. 36 patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or Low Back Pain were randomly assigned to VR or audio only guided imagery groups. Feasibility, acceptability and patient experience were rated by participants. Outcomes assessed at baseline and post-intervention were pain, mental and physical health, and mood.Results indicate that the intervention was feasible and found acceptable by participants. The intervention also demonstrated promising preliminary efficacy based on self-reported within-group decreases in pain, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and improvements in physical and mental functioning.Conclusions. The use of VR shows promise for enhancing the application and experience of guided imagery training with people who have chronic pain.

Keywords: virtual reality, guided imagery, Chronic Pain, Complex regional pain sindrome, Chronic back pain

Received: 03 Oct 2024; Accepted: 15 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Doan, Miller, Vierra, Richeimer, Recasens, Lake, Yao, Junghaenel and Weinstein. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Faye Weinstein, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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