Can AI and VR ease anxiety in IBD patients? small study explores digital wellness
NCT ID NCT06575660
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This small study tested whether an AI-powered virtual reality app could safely provide mental health support to 22 adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who also had mild anxiety or depression. The goal was to see if the digital session was practical and acceptable, not to prove it works. Researchers measured safety, patient satisfaction, and changes in pain scores before and after the session.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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22 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Sep 2024
- Finished
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Oct 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * 18+ years of age * Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis) * English-speaking * Patients with score of 5-14 on General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire or 5-19 on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) within 3 months * Able to provide written consent Exclusion Criteria: * Unwilling and/or unable to participate * Non-English speakers * Self-reported history of severe motion sickness * The presence of a facial/head deformity that will prohibit comfortably wearing of a VR headset * Legally blind or deaf * Having had a seizure in the past year * Unable to understand the instructions or to consent to participation in the study. * Those who are pregnant
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, 60637, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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