Virtual Reality for Anxiety Management in Persons With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease characterized by death of motor neurons, resulting in weakness. Aside from motor-related progressive impairment, persons with ALS (pwALS) experience a burden of non-motor symptoms which have major influences on quality of life (QOL). This includes anxiety, found to be only second to function as greatest influence on QOL.

Exploring alternative technologies to improve access to anxiety management strategies for persons with ALS (pwALS) is a worthy endeavor. Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology increasingly used for mental health treatment and within clinical research. Anxiety treatment interventions utilizing VR can include exposure therapy or applied relaxation techniques, two of the more promising treatments for generalized anxiety disorder. The visual presentation of a virtual calm scenario can facilitate a persons' practice and mastery of relaxation, making the experience more vivid and real than the one that most individuals can create using their own imagination and memory.

This study will identify if a simple and accessible home VR guided relaxation exercise program can improve subjective anxiety symptoms in persons living with ALS, subsequently improving quality of life.

At 5 sites across Canada (Fredericton NB, Halifax NS, Kingston ON, Hamilton ON, and Saskatoon SK), persons with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis will be identified by their treating physician and invited to participate during a typical interdisciplinary ALS clinic visit at their respective healthcare centre. Participants will be randomized to receive a virtual reality system for home-based relaxation therapy or to a control group which will receive no intervention. Outcome measurement will be completed at baseline prior to introduction of virtual reality and after every 4 weeks of intervention up to 12 weeks.

This multi-site randomized controlled trial aims to identify if a simple and accessible at-home virtual reality guided relaxation exercise program can improve subjective anxiety symptoms in persons with ALS and subsequently improve quality of life. It is our hope that this project will not only raise mental health awareness in persons with ALS but also provide an accessible and affordable opportunity to manage these overlooked aspects of ALS. This work could potentially be applied to other diagnoses which influence mental health and quality of life if deemed effective

• ALS Functional Rating Scale - Revised (ALSFRS-R) [Срок оценки: Baseline and 12 weeks.]
• ALS-Specific Quality of Life Short Form (ALSSQOL-SF) [Срок оценки: Baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks.]
• Patient Global Impression of Improvement Scale (PGI-I) [Срок оценки: Completed at 12 week assessment only.]