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The use of Biofeedback in Clinical Virtual Reality: The INTREPID Project
Published on: November 12, 2009
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Virtual Reality Biofeedback in Health: A Scoping Review
Robin Lüddecke1,2, Anna Felnhofer3,4
1Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Allergology and Endocrinology, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
|December 3, 2021
Summary
Virtual reality (VR) combined with biofeedback (BF) shows promise for improving motivation and user experience in therapy. While not definitively more effective than traditional BF, VR-BF offers potential advantages for attention and engagement.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Psychology
- Rehabilitation Science
Background:
- Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly integrated into biofeedback (BF) therapy to address limitations of traditional methods.
- Challenges in traditional BF include low patient motivation, reduced attentional focus, and difficulties in transferring learned skills to daily life.
- A comprehensive synthesis of empirical research on VR-based BF is currently lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a scoping review of empirical studies on VR-based BF.
- To provide an overview of key outcomes, participant demographics, technology used, BF parameters, application methods, and limitations.
- To synthesize current evidence on the efficacy and potential benefits of VR-BF.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search across multiple databases (Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Open Grey).
- Inclusion criteria focused on empirical research of VR-based BF interventions.
- Analysis of 18 selected studies based on predefined criteria.
Main Results:
- Samples predominantly comprised healthy adults (44.4% healthy, 77.7% adult).
- Primary outcomes included anxiety, stress, and pain reduction, with VR-BF performing comparably to traditional BF.
- VR-BF interventions reported enhanced participant motivation, involvement, and user experience, alongside improved attentional focus.
Conclusions:
- VR-BF demonstrates potential advantages in patient motivation, user experience, and attentional focus compared to traditional BF.
- Current evidence does not conclusively establish VR-BF's superior efficacy over traditional BF.
- Further research is recommended to explore VR and gamification impacts, and to test broader clinical and age-diverse samples.
