Virtual Reality-Supported Exercise for Chronic Musculoskeletal Shoulder Disorders: a Feasibility Study
Not yet recruitingNot applicableNCT07392762
View the official record on ClinicalTrials.gov Recruiting status changes often. Contact the study team listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, and talk to your doctor before joining a study.
This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
People with long-term (chronic) shoulder disorders caused by injuries, overuse or conditions (such as arthritis) often need physiotherapy. This usually includes exercise therapy to help reduce pain, rebuild strength and make every day activities easier. However, it can be hard to stick to an exercise programme. People may stop due to pain, fear of making the symptoms worse or simply loosing motivation. Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that may help people say engaged with their exercise programmes by making exercises more enjoyable and interactive. When using a headset (similar to goggles), people can see and interact with a 3D virtual world. Their movement, especially their hands and arms, are shown as an 'avatar' (a virtual character) in this virtual world. Exercise can feel more like playing a game or engaging with tasks/challenges, rather than performing repetitive movements. This shift might help reduce focus on pain and increase motivation. VR also provides real-time feedback, helping people track their progress and adjust their movements instantly. This might lead to more accurate and consistent exercise performance and better recovery outcomes. Before we can test whether VR exercise programmes are effective for people with chronic shoulder disorders, we firstly need to understand whether it is practical and acceptable for patients to use. This 'feasibility' study will therefore involve 20 patients with chronic shoulder disorders referred for physiotherapy at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) in Stanmore, United Kingdom. Participants will take part in three VR exercise sessions at the RNOH over a three-week period. Levels of pain, quality of life and sleep quality etc. will be measured before and after three weeks. Interviews will also be held up to two weeks after the final session to explore people's experiences and thoughts towards the VR exercise programme. The results will help us decide if a larger study should go ahead.
Study details
- Official title
- Virtual Reality-Supported Exercise for Chronic Musculoskeletal Shoulder Disorders: a Feasibility Study (The V-RECS Study)
- Conditions
- Shoulder Pain
- Chronic Shoulder Pain
- Musculoskeletal Shoulder Pain
- Interventions
- Device: Virtual Reality
- Sponsor
- Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
- Collaborators
- SyncVR Medical
- Start date
- 2026-01-16
- Primary completion
- 2026-10-31
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 18 Years
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- United Kingdom
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: * Adult patients \>18 years with diagnosed unilateral/ bilateral shoulder pain with/ without co-existing symptoms of instability and or stiffness (persisting \> three months) generated from a Musculoskeletal origin * Patients who have been referred for conservative management * New or follow-up patients * Sufficient English to understand written materials/verbal instruction/or accompanied by family/friends able to translate * Patients who provide informed, written consent to enter the study Exclusion Criteria: * Unable to provide informed consent * On a waiting list for surgery and/or injections * Referred for post-operative physiotherapy * Shoulder pain not originating from an MSK aetiology (such as hemiplegia or peripheral nerve injury) * Active history of seizures * Other relevant medical conditions deemed inappropriate for patients to participate e.g. visual impairment, unstable psychiatric illnesses. * Shoulder pain associated with bone metastasis * Currently taking part in any other upper limb research study * Patients who do not adequately understand verbal explanations or written information given in English (or are not accompanied by an interpreter/family member).
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07392762