{
  "abstract": "Introduction Chronic pain is a common health condition that significantly impacts the quality of life of those affected, affecting one in five people in Canada. The prevalence of this condition tends to increase with age, making it a major health issue given the ageing population. However, its management remains inadequate and requires significant mobilisation of healthcare professionals as well as the development of multiple therapeutic solutions. Among these, non-pharmacological interventions such as hypnosis and virtual reality have proven effective. Nevertheless, while the existing literature seems promising, it presents methodological limitations. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effectiveness of an intervention combining virtual reality and hypnosis in an ageing population suffering from a widespread chronic pain condition, that is, hand arthritis.Methods and analysis This study will be a single-centre randomised clinical trial. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: one receiving an intervention combining virtual reality and hypnosis, and the other receiving only virtual reality. The effectiveness of the intervention on current perceived pain before and after the intervention (primary outcome) will be evaluated. Secondary outcomes will include anxiety and depressive symptoms, quality of life, relaxation and fatigue. Exploratory analyses will also be conducted to contribute to the emerging literature by examining physiological variables such as heart rate variability, respiratory rate and electrodermal activity during the intervention, and their relationship with primary and secondary outcomes.Ethics and dissemination The project was approved by the Research Ethical Committee of the Hospital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (Project no 2024-3539). Participants will be asked to provide written consent for their participation. Results from this study will be shared through peer-reviewed publications, as well as oral and poster presentations at scientific events. The protocol for this study was preregistered on Open Science Framework and raw anonymised data will be available on this platform ( https://osf.io/vbh72/?view_only=1d17c5708f894faab6669d85e1fde75d).Trial registration number NCT06833905.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada",
        "Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Valentyn Fournier"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Marie-Fania Simard"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Sai Yan Yuen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Joséphine Guiné"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Floriane Rousseaux"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Julie Lebeau"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Karim Jerbi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Philippe Richebé"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Psychology, University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Mathieu Landry"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Faculty of Dentistry, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "CRIUGM, Montreal, Quebec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Pierre Rainville"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Quebec, Canada",
        "Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "David Ogez"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Combining virtual reality and hypnosis to alleviate chronic pain in elderly with hand arthritis: protocol for a randomised phase II clinical trial",
  "uid": "713dbdb9-642e-5e8c-8605-be0af71496df"
}