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Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT06910787

Outpatient VR (Virtual Reality)-Brain-gut Behavioral Therapies (BGBT) in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

This research study is being done to learn if a virtual reality (VR)-directed BGBT program is feasible and acceptable for patients to enhance pain treatment for patients with IBD.

The study hypothesis include:

* the study will achieve greater than 75% program completion and 75% study assessment completion * patients with IBD will find VR-directed BGBT acceptable as an outpatient pain treatment * outpatient VR-directed BGBT in IBD arm participants will report a greater reduction in pain scores, symptom burden, stress, depression, anxiety, and pain-related interference and an improvement in health-related quality of life * will have lower opioid requirements and healthcare utilization at 4-weeks follow-up compared to the E-TAU arm

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

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Key information

Conditions

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Digestive System Diseases Gastroenteritis Gastrointestinal Diseases Intestinal Diseases Neurologic Manifestations Pain Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adult outpatients (18 years and older) that carry a diagnosis of IBD and confirmed in the electronic health record (EHR) as receiving IBD-targeted treatment
  • IBD-targeted treatment include 5-aminosalicylates, thiopurines, biologics, or small molecules such as Janus kinase inhibitor (JAK) inhibitors or sphingosine-1-receptor modulators.
  • Self-report abdominal pain with an average severity ≥ 2 on a 0-10 pain scale over the last 24 hours,
  • Participants are willing and able to pick-up and drop-off VR equipment at University of Michigan (UM)

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients that do not report pain (i.e., score<2) as they are less likely to benefit from VR-directed BGBT
  • Patients with a history of conditions that could potentially be harmed by VR including seizures/epilepsy, loss of awareness, binocular vision loss, current pregnancy, or uncontrolled cardiac (e.g., arrhythmia, coronary artery disease) or neurological/cerebrovascular disease.

Treatment and study plan

VR-directed BGBT

Device

VR-directed BGBT using the Oculus Meta Quest 3 VR headset will be delivered using the Synergi application. The program includes 4-weeks of daily self-led activities using 5 virtual modules: (1) education (2) two interactive games (3) breathing exercises (4) gut-directed meditation and (5) gastroenterology-specific Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Participants will also receive standard care. On day 1, intervention arm participants will undergo a brief in-person or virtual (i.e., zoom or Microsoft teams) training with study staff to learn how to use the VR headset and access intervention modules. On day 1 participants will be asked to explore each of the program modules to achieve initial familiarity. Participants will be encouraged to use the VR-BGBT program for at least 15 minutes daily, but at minimum 3-4 days each week. Additionally, study assessments will be completed at baseline, 2-weeks, 4-weeks, and 8-weeks, with an interview within 1-2 weeks of completing the program.

E-TAU

Other

Participants will receive standard of care, as directed by the participant's gastroenterologist. Participants will also receive an educational video and fact sheet on pain in IBD. This will be 4-weeks with study assessments at baseline, 2-weeks, and 4-weeks, 8-weeks.

Primary outcomes

  1. Feasibility defined by the proportion of enrolled participants that complete the 4-week VR-directed BGBT program and study assessments.

    Time frame: 4 weeks

    The study team hypothesizes the study will achieve greater than 75% program completion and 75% study assessment completion.

  2. Acceptability of VR-directed BGBT based on a semi-structured post intervention interview

    Time frame: 4 weeks

    The interview will be done to understand the participants' experience with the VR-directed BGBT intervention and conducted using interview guides with open-ended questions. interview guides will focus on four main domains related to participant's pain history, experience with VR-directed BGBT (including tolerability and acceptability of each BGBT module), perceived impact (including information on any components that were perceived to be most helpful or ineffective), and suggested improvements for program refinement.

  3. VR-BGBT acceptability using the Treatment Acceptability and Adherence Scale

    Time frame: 4 weeks

    This is a 10-question scale that participants choose from 1 (disagree strongly) - 7 (agree strongly). Scores range from 10-70 with higher scores indication greater acceptability.

  4. VR-BGBT usability using the System Usability Scale

    Time frame: 4 weeks

    This is a 10-question scale that participants choose from 1 (strongly agree) - 5 (strongly disagree). Scores range from 0 to 100 with a higher score indicating greater acceptability.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Michigan

Other

Collaborators

  • American Gastroenterological Association

Registry information

Official study title

Outpatient Virtual Reality-Directed Treatment for Pain in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2027
First posted
Apr 4, 2025
Registry last updated
Jun 29, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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