Abstract :
[en] Background. Many women with breast cancer who are scheduled for surgery suffer from preoperative anxiety (Majumdar et al., 2019). Unmanaged preoperative anxiety can have a negative impact on the intra- and postoperative periods (e.g., pain, increased use of analgesics and anesthetics) (Kulkarni et al., 2017; Stamenkovic et al., 2018). The present study aims to examine the benefit of the combination of two psychological tools during the preoperative phase: psychoeducation on relaxation and relaxing environments through virtual reality (VR).
Methods. One hundred and twenty women with breast cancer undergoing initial surgery will be enrolled in this single-center, three-arm randomized controlled trial. Patients will be randomized at 1:1:1 ratio to one of the following groups: psychoeducation + VR; only psychoeducation; control group receiving standard treatment.
Primary outcomes are preoperative anxiety, worries, and relaxation's indicators measured by visual analog scales. Secondary clinical outcomes are perioperative experience (e.g., pain, comfort), heart rate, anesthesic and surgical data (e.g., anesthesia and analgesia requirement).
Data will be collected at baseline, 21 days before surgery (T1), 14 days before surgery (T2), 7 days before surgery (T3), the day of surgery (T4), the day after surgery (T5), and ∼1 month after surgery (T6).
Expected results. We should observe a significant difference between the outcomes of the two experimental groups and those of the control group (i.e., decrease in preoperative anxiety and worry, improvement in relaxation and perioperative experience). Furthermore, VR immersions could enhance the relaxation learning. Thus, we should also observe a significant difference between the results of this group and the group receiving psychoeducation only.
Discussion. The combined action of psychoeducation and VR could become a real alternative to reduce anxiety in women awaiting for breast cancer surgery. This new proactive approach may provide a much-needed, easy-to-use, non-pharmacological relaxation intervention to improve the health of surgical patients.
