Lead: Virtual reality-based Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE-VR) as an adjunct to medications for opioid use disorder: a Phase 1 trial

Virtual reality-based Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE-VR) as an adjunct to medications for opioid use disorder: a Phase 1 trial 🔓

Annals of Medicine

Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) uses mindfulness training to address dysregulation in brain reward systems. MORE has been shown to reduce drug cue reactivity and in an RCT reduced opioid misuse 45% at 9 months. Face-to-face MORE requires significant time of trained clinicians, and this study explored the feasibility of delivering MORE by virtual reality (VR). Treatment consisted of 8 weekly, one-hour MORE-VR sessions. Patients could choose the VR setting for their meditation (beach, forest, waterfall) and interact with virtual drugs and paraphernalia during session 5, which was devoted to examining and managing craving. Of 38 patients, 68% completed 4 or more sessions and 50% completed all sessions. Opioid use decreased significantly (p =.04), as well as craving (p<.001), and results showed a significant increase in positive affect (p<.001).

 

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