Short article: Willingness to undergo colonoscopy with virtual reality instead of procedural sedation and analgesia

This study explored the willingness of patients to start colonoscopy with virtual reality (VR) instead of procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA), as well as their motives and characteristics. There is a growing interest in colonoscopy without PSA. Offering VR as a distraction technique instead of PSA may increase the percentage of colonoscopies without PSA.

A survey with demographic, colonoscopy-related and psychology-related questions was completed by 326 adults referred for colonoscopy with PSA.

Overall, 25.7% reported to be willing to start with VR instead of PSA. Main reasons for this choice were receiving as little medication as possible, resuming daily life activities faster and participating in traffic independently afterwards. Logistic regression analysis showed that significant predictors of the willingness to use VR were male sex, higher educational level and absence of worries about the outcome of the colonoscopy.

If VR turns out to be effective in the future, present results may be useful to customize patient information to help patients choosing VR.