A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial Using Virtual Reality in Pediatric Pre-intervention Echocardiograms to...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Cardiology
• Medical Technology
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) is an established distraction tool for reducing anxiety and fear in children during medical procedures.
• Its efficacy during transthoracic echocardiograms (TTEs) in pediatric patients has not been previously investigated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of VR as a distraction tool during pre-intervention TTEs in children.
• To compare VR with standard distractions (television, mobile devices) regarding anxiety, fear, TTE comprehensiveness, and diagnostic accuracy.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving pediatric patients (6-18 years) undergoing pre-intervention TTEs.
• Patients were assigned to either a VR group or a non-VR group using standard distractors.
• Anxiety and fear levels were assessed using the Children's Anxiety Meter-State (CAM-S) and Children's Fear Scale (CFS).
• TTEs were evaluated for comprehensiveness and diagnostic accuracy; procedure times were recorded.

Main Results:

• Both VR and standard distraction groups showed significant decreases in anxiety and fear from pre- to post-TTE.
• No statistically significant difference was observed in the reduction of anxiety or fear between the VR and non-VR groups.
• TTE study comprehensiveness and diagnostic accuracy were high in both groups.
• Procedure time was shorter in the VR group, though not statistically significant (p=0.075).

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality is comparable to standard distraction methods for mitigating anxiety and fear in pediatric TTEs.
• VR may offer a potential benefit in reducing procedure time.
• Patients, parents, and sonographers reported positive experiences with VR, supporting its future use.