RightFit
Not yet recruitingEarly Phase 1

Virtual Reality and Biofeedback for Adolescents With Chronic Dizziness

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
13 Years to 25 Years
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Not accepted
Compensation
Mentioned in the study description

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Mentioned in the study description
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study tests whether adding virtual reality to therapy and biofeedback can help teens with long-lasting dizziness. Virtual reality uses a headset to show lifelike scenes, while biofeedback helps people learn to control body responses. The study will check how well this combined treatment works and how practical it is to use.

Both persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) and vestibular migraine (VM) are common diagnoses in patients presenting to physicians for evaluation of vestibular symptoms such as dizziness and vertigo. Although they are most often described in the adult population, they are also common in children and adolescents with dizziness. Chronic dizziness profoundly affects quality of life, often keeping children out of school and inhibiting their participation in the normal activities of childhood and adolescence. Overall, chronic dizziness is suspected to be due in large part to a "rewiring" of the brain that alters how cues related to balance and orientation are processed, with overreliance on visual inputs to maintain balance and equilibrium being a common development. Thus, chronic dizziness, especially that which is due to PPPD, is often caused by visual triggers. A multi-modal approach is often taken to treat chronic dizziness, attempting to recalibrate this maladaptive "rewiring" and return the sensory system to normal function. Given the role that visual inputs play in developing and perpetuating chronic dizziness, habituation to visual stimuli should be a significant component to treatment. Treatments often include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), systematic desensitization exposure response prevention (SDERP), and biofeedback therapy (BFB). However, these visually provoked symptoms are often resistant to treatment. One reason for this may be that visual stimuli are difficult to replicate in the clinic or office. One way to address this gap in treatment is through virtual reality (VR) technology, which immerses patients in realistic visual environments. VR has not been explicitly described in the treatment of PPPD or chronic dizziness, but it has been piloted, and shown to be effective, in the rehabilitation of peripheral vestibular dysfunction. This study aims to integrate VR into the current PPPD/chronic dizziness techniques of CBT, SDERP, and BFB. The investigators will use a commercially available VR headset, which enables the use of VR in the office setting in a relatively low-cost form of VR technology. This study will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of VR in conjunction with CBT, SDERP, and BFB to investigate if VR technology enhances previously established effective treatments to reduce chronic dizziness and PPPD.

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • Have long-lasting dizziness and receive care now, or have received care before, in the study’s program.
  • Have not already received biofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy (help with thoughts and behaviors), and gradual exposure therapy for dizziness.

Who can't join

  • Do not have long-lasting dizziness.
  • Written consent to take part is not available.
  • Have signs of losing touch with reality or an untreated mental health condition.
  • Have an intellectual disability, a delay in development, or trouble making decisions.
  • Prefer a language other than English.
  • Have had seizures, are at risk for seizures, or have epilepsy (a seizure disorder).

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: \- Patients who previously or are currently seen in our program who have not already undergone BFB, CBT, and SDERP for treatment of their chronic dizziness. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients without chronic dizziness. * Patients for whom written consent is not available. * Patients who exhibit psychotic features, have untreated mental health conditions, or have an intellectual disability, developmental delay, or decisional impairment. * Non-English language preference patients. * Patients with a history of seizures, at risk of seizures, or who have a diagnosis of epilepsy.

Study sites (1)

MA