Recruiting

VRPT

Sponsor:

Stanford University

Code:

NCT05876156

Conditions

Physical Health

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 10 - 25

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Virtual Reality Physical Therapy

Traditional Physical Therapy

Study Details

Brief summary:

This pragmatic, crossover, randomized controlled study evaluates the efficacy of virtual reality assisted physical therapy (VRPT) for improving the physical activity of hospitalized children as compared to traditional physical therapy. This is a pilot study that will be used to identify patient populations that can benefit the most from VRPT and estimate this effect for future studies.

Patients with a significant neurological condition, major developmental disability, active infection of the face or hand, history of severe motion sickness, history of seizures caused by flashing light or had a major surgery within the last 48 hours will be excluded.

Conditions

Physical Health

Study ID

NCT05876156

Start date

Jun 1, 2025

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Dec 31, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 10 - 25

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Between age 10-25 years
  • Diagnosed with cancer
  • Has an active physical therapy consultation
  • Anticipated inpatient stay for at least 3-days with the second PT session following between 24-72 hours after the first PT session
  • Ability to understand and the willingness to personally sign the written Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved informed consent document by Legally Authorized Representative (LAR) if participant <18 years old or by participant if 18+
  • Ability to understand and the willingness to personally sign the written IRB approved informed assent document for patient <18 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Legal guardian does not present to obtain consent.
  • Child with a significant neurological condition, or major developmental disability.
  • Child with active infection of the face or hand.
  • A history of severe motion sickness.
  • A history of seizures caused by flashing light.
  • Major surgery within the last 48 hours.
  • Does not speak English (required for surveys)
  • With visual impairments or any degree of developmental delays
  • Child on mechanical ventilation or ventilatory support

Study Design

Enrollment

40 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Supportive Care

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: VRPT then Traditional PT

Participants will receive Virtual Reality assisted Physical Therapy sessions (VRPT) in the first Physical Therapy (PT) session and will receive traditional Physical Therapy sessions (standard care) in the second Physical Therapy session under the supervision of the accredited physical therapist.

experimental: Traditional PT then VRPT

Participants will receive traditional Physical Therapy (PT) sessions (standard care) in the first Physical Therapy session and Virtual Reality assisted Physical Therapy sessions (VRPT) in the second Physical Therapy session under the supervision of the accredited physical therapist.

Interventions

Virtual Reality Physical Therapy

Participants are allowed to freely choose one game from the game list. Participant will be asked to wear a validated activity tracker - ActiGraph. Baseline heart rate will be collected for 1 minute. Participants will be wearing the ActiGraph during Physical Therapy session. Participants receiving VR intervention will be instructed to wear an Oculus Quest 2 headset (Meta, Inc., Menlo Park, CA) and participate in VR applications under the supervision of the physical therapist.

Traditional Physical Therapy

Participants will receive traditional Physical Therapy sessions (standard care) under the supervision of the accredited physical therapist. Participants will be wearing the Actigraph during Physical Therapy session. Participants will perform regular physical exercise, such as 20 minutes walking or biking on a stationary bike, under the supervision of a physical therapist.

Primary outcome measure

  • ActiGraph data points [ Time Frame: During physical therapy session ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Thomas Caruso

650-723-5728tjcaruso@stanford.edu

Man Yee Suen

650-723-5728smy822@stanford.edu

Locations

Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford

Recruiting

Palo Alto, California, United States, 94304

More Information

Sponsor

Stanford University

Last update posted

Jun 4, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • Virtual Reality
  • Physical Activity

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Stanford University on 2026-06-04.