Using Virtual Reality Applications for Younger Patients With Chronic Pain

June 1, 2026 updated by: Elizabeth Pickle

Use of Virtual Reality in Outpatient Management of Pediatric Chronic Pain of Head, Neck and Upper Extremity

In this study, patients who are 7-21 years of age and have chronic pain affecting their head, neck, and/or upper limb will participate in 6 once-weekly sessions. During each of these hour-long sessions, participants will engage in physical therapy exercises, use virtual reality games focused on moving the head, neck and arm, and complete questionnaires about their pain.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Elizabeth A Pickle, MD
  • Phone Number: 2 (412) 692-8700
  • Email: pickleea@upmc.edu

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Allison Park, Pennsylvania, United States, 15101-4146
        • Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients 7-21 years of age
  • Patients who have been evaluated in the pediatric chronic pain clinic during the enrollment period or last 12 months
  • Patients who have a diagnosis of migraine, chronic neck pain, chronic shoulder or scapular pain, chronic pain of the upper limb, complex regional pain syndrome of the upper limb, amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome affecting the upper limb, chronic joint pain affecting the upper limb

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients less than 7 years or greater than 21 years of age
  • Patients who have not been evaluated in the pediatric chronic pain clinic during the enrollment period or last 12 months.
  • Patients with primary complaints of lower back pain, hip pain, knee pain, ankle pain, or abdominal pain.
  • Patients with factors limit their ability to safely tolerate wearing and operating the Meta Oculus 2 virtual reality goggles, including but not limited to claustrophobia, anxiety, vestibulo-ocular dysfunction, visual impairments, significant sitting balance impairments.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Physical Therapy and VR
Device: Virtual reality gaming
Participants will wear a VR headset and play games of their choosing developed by Invincikids to target mobility in the head, neck and upper extremity
Other: Physical therapy exercises
Physical therapy exercises directed by a licensed physical therapist to improve painful area mobility and function. Participants will be classified into high, moderate, and low pain irritability groups, which will determine their exercises

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Intensity Based on Numeric Rating Scale
Time Frame: Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Ranges from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable)
Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Disability Classification based on the Upper Extremity Functional Scale
Time Frame: Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
20-item questionnaire asking participant to rate difficulty of specified activities using the upper extremity with possible answers ranging from 1 (extreme difficulty or unable to perform activity) to 4 (no difficulty).
Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Self-Efficacy
Time Frame: Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
7-item questionnaire of "How sure are you that you are able to do each of the following things when you have pain?" which can be answered very sure, pretty sure, in the middle, pretty unsure, very unsure
Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Catastrophizing
Time Frame: Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
13-item questionnaire on thoughts and feelings during pain answered with not at all, mildly, moderately, severely, extremely.
Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Sleep Interference
Time Frame: Weekly assessment from enrollment until the end of treatment at 6 weeks
15-item questionnaire about sleep interference with each question answered never, almost never, sometimes, almost always, always
Weekly assessment from enrollment until the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Psychological Stress Experience
Time Frame: Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
19-item questionnaire about psychological stress experience which can be answered never, rarely, sometimes, often, always
Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Depressive Symptoms
Time Frame: Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
14-item questionnaire about depressive symptoms that can be answered never, almost never, sometimes, often, almost always
Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Anxiety
Time Frame: Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks
15-item questionnaire that can be answered never, almost never, sometimes, often, almost always
Weekly assessment from enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Elizabeth Pickle

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Elizabeth A Pickle, MD, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 5, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 1, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY25080026

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

We do not currently have plans to share IPD; however, patients will be consented for the potential use of de-identified data by other researchers in the future.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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