A self-administered immersive virtual reality tool for assessing cognitive impairment in patients with cancer

Objective: This study was aimed at exploring the feasibility and validity of a self-administered immersive virtual reality (VR) tool designed to assess cognitive impairment in patients with cancer. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey study, an immersive tool was used to rate the previously recommended core assessment domains of cancer-related cognitive impairment-comprising attention, verbal learning memory, processing speed, executive function and verbal fluency-via an interactive VR scenario. Results: A total of 165 patients with cancer participated in this study. The participants' mean age was 47.74 years (SD = 10.59). Common cancer types included lung, liver, breast and colorectal cancer, and most patients were in early disease stages (n = 146, 88.5%). Participants' performance in the VR cognition assessment showed a moderate to strong positive correlation with their paper-and-pencil neurocognitive test results (r = 0.34-0.76, P < 0.001), thus indicating high concurrent validity of the immersive VR cognition assessment tool. For all participants, the mean score for the VR-based cognition assessment was 5.41 (SD = 0.70) out of a potential maximum of 7.0. The mean simulation sickness score for the VR-based tool, as rated by the patients, was 0.35 (SD = 0.19), thereby indicating that minimal simulation sickness occurred during the VR-assisted cognition assessment. Conclusions: Given its demonstrated validity, and the patients' high presence scores and minimal sickness scores, this VR-based cognition assessment tool is a feasible and acceptable instrument for measuring cognitive impairment in patients with cancer. However, further psychometric assessments should be implemented in clinical settings.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore the feasibility and validity of a self-administered immersive virtual reality (VR) tool for assessing cognitive impairment in cancer patients. The immersive tool was used to assess attention, verbal learning memory, processing speed, executive function, and verbal fluency through an interactive VR scenario. The results showed a moderate to strong positive correlation between the VR cognition assessment and paper-and-pencil neurocognitive tests, indicating high concurrent validity. The VR-based cognition assessment tool demonstrated feasibility and acceptability for measuring cognitive impairment in cancer patients.