Designing Virtual Reality Assisted Psychotherapy for Anxiety in Older Adults Living with Parkinson’s Disease: Integrating Literature for Scoping

Abstract

Objective: This review integrates literature to discuss the potential use of virtual reality (VR) in treatment of anxiety in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and inform next steps.

Methods: A systematic search was performed to identify studies of VR use in PD, using four databases. Data were reported in accordance to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyzes extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR).

Results: Thirty-two studies met the inclusion criteria with four VR studies from the same study group directly assessing the effects of anxiety on motor symptoms in PD. Primary studies implementing a VR protocol in PD identified focus areas of understanding and alleviating freezing of gait (FOG), balance training, and cognitive and motor rehabilitation, and informed design considerations.

Conclusion: VR in PD studies suggested established feasibility. With appropriate design considerations, a VR based protocol could improve anxiety outcomes in PD.

Clinical implications: VR in PD provides control of a patient’s field of view, which can be exploited to induce specific responses, provide visual feedback, analysis of patient actions, and introduce safe challenges in the context of training. VR assisted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) tailored to suit subtypes of anxiety disorders in PD have the potential to improve the efficacy and effectiveness of psychotherapy in PD.