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Using Virtual Reality to Reduce Anxiety and Improve Hospital Experience in Paediatric Orthopaedic Patients and Their
Natasha Oh1, Nina Parrish1, In Woo Lee1
1Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK.
Insights
Virtual reality (VR) effectively reduces anxiety in pediatric orthopedic patients and their parents, enhancing their hospital experience. While VR did not significantly reduce pain, it proved comparable to play specialists in managing pre-operative anxiety.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare
- Medical technology
- Pain and anxiety management
Background:
- Hospital environments can induce significant stress, pain, and anxiety in pediatric patients and their families.
- Innovative interventions are crucial for improving the pediatric hospital experience.
- Immersive virtual reality (VR) is emerging as a promising distraction technique.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of 'Rescape DR.VR Junior' in mitigating pain and anxiety among pediatric orthopedic patients.
- To assess the impact of VR on the overall hospital experience for both patients and their parents.
- To compare VR intervention with traditional play specialist methods.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 64 pediatric patients (aged 4-18) in an orthopedic setting.
- Utilized a control group (play specialist) and a VR intervention group.
- Measured patient and parental anxiety and pain using a 10-point Likert scale and validated questionnaires pre- and post-intervention.
Main Results:
- VR intervention significantly decreased patient and parental anxiety in pre-operative and fracture clinic settings (p < 0.5).
- No significant reduction in pain scores was observed with VR intervention.
- VR was comparable to play specialists in reducing pre-operative anxiety.
- Patients and parents reported a significantly improved hospital experience with VR.
Conclusions:
- Virtual reality (VR) is an effective tool for reducing anxiety in pediatric orthopedic patients and their parents.
- VR significantly enhances the overall hospital experience for pediatric patients and their families.
- VR can be implemented as a standalone intervention or complementary therapy alongside play specialists.
Abstract:
The hospital environment can be a stressful environment for paediatric patients and their parents, which is often characterised by heightened levels of pain and anxiety. To address these challenges, many innovative intervention methods has been explored. For example, immersive virtual reality (VR) headsets as a distraction method has become an increasingly popular intervention in recent years. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of VR using 'Rescape DR.VR Junior' in reducing pain, anxiety, and enhancing the overall hospital experience for paediatric orthopaedic patients and their parents. A total of 64 patients aged 4-18 years were included in this study, which utilised a control group (interacting with a play specialist) and a VR intervention group (including pre-operative patients and fracture clinic patients). Anxiety and pain levels were measured using a 10-point Likert scale before and after the intervention, and validated questionnaires were used to assess parental anxiety and overall hospital experience. The results indicated that VR intervention significantly reduced patient and parental anxiety both before surgery and in the fracture clinic setting (p < 0.5). However, no significant reduction in pain scores was observed in either environments. Comparatively, VR intervention was found to be comparable to traditional play methods in terms of reducing anxiety in the pre-operative environment. All patients and parents agreed that the use of VR distraction methods significantly improved their hospital experience. In conclusion, VR is an effective method for reducing child and parental anxiety and enhancing the hospital experience and can be used alone or in conjunction with a play specialist.
