Virtual reality offers some benefit in COPD exacerbation management

For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation, incorporating virtual reality in pulmonary rehabilitation is safe and helps increase motivation to participate in treatment programs, according to a study.

The study included 50 patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbation, of which 25 were randomly assigned to participate in a traditional pulmonary rehabilitation program, which involved pedalling exercises, once daily until discharge (control). The remaining 25 patients followed the same protocol, with virtual reality used to simulate cycling in the forest.

Researchers assessed the patients using 1-minute/Sit-to-Stand test (STST), modified-Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale, COPD Assessment test (CAT), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and London Chest Activities of Daily Living (LCADL) before and after the treatment.

After treatment, both groups showed improvements across all outcomes, although the magnitude of improvement was more substantial in the virtual reality group. Specifically, the virtual reality group showed a higher increase in STST (p=0.037), greater decrease in dyspnoea levels (p=0.062) and CAT scores (p=0.003), more significant decrease in depression and the total score on HADS (p<0.05), more substantial decrease in LCADL's sub-parameters and total score, excluding household.

The findings suggest that virtual reality can make pulmonary rehabilitation more effective in the face of limited treatment times.