Impact of Virtual Reality on the Mental Health of Patients Undergoing Adjuvant Treatment for Colorectal Cancer

The increase in the survival of cancer patients and the incidence of cancers leads to a rapid increase in the number of people living after a diagnosis of cancer. Supporting people during and after treatment is an element of the third Cancer Plan (2014-2019) promoting the emergence of innovations for the benefit of patients as well as the implementation of global and personalized actions of support, and wishing to reduce the impact of cancer on personal life. Occupation during chemotherapy treatment time has been identified as an excellent way to support cancer patients. Studies show that distraction interventions (progressive relaxation, guided imagery, cognitive distractions such as reading, humor, listening to music, watching a movie, etc.) increase tolerance to treatment, by decreasing the importance given to negative stimuli associated with chemotherapy and increasing pleasurable emotions. In this context, virtual reality (VR) is a promising intervention for patients receiving chemotherapy. It makes it possible to modulate the attentional and emotional processes responsible for physiological and psychic reactions (pain, psychological distress, anxiety). VR is considered a powerful painkiller, even more effective than other distractors, such as movies or video games for example. Several studies have shown short-term beneficial effects of integrating VR in patients undergoing chemotherapy. This intervention would help patients better adhere to and tolerate treatment. Considering that positive emotions could be one of the underlying processes necessary for the effectiveness of VR, it would be possible to support the cancer patient towards better overall well-being thanks to these new technologies. Investigators can therefore ask themselves the question of the impact that VR used during chemotherapy can have on the adaptation of patients to the disease and its treatments as well as on their psychological distress in the medium and long term.