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Virtual reality technology reduces the pain and anxiety of children undergoing vein puncture: a meta-analysis
Qin Wei1, Rong Sun1, Yan Liang1
1Department of Orthopedics, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 72, Guangzhou Road, Gulou District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.
Insights
Virtual reality (VR) effectively reduces pain and anxiety in children during venipuncture. This technology offers a promising, non-pharmacological approach to pediatric pain management during medical procedures.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Medical Technology
- Pain Management
Background:
- Pain management is crucial in pediatric nursing care.
- Venipuncture procedures commonly cause pain and anxiety in children.
- Assessing novel interventions for pediatric pain is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically evaluate the impact of virtual reality (VR) on pain and anxiety in children undergoing venipuncture.
- To synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on VR for pediatric venipuncture pain and anxiety.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search was conducted across major biomedical databases up to July 2024.
- Included studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) focusing on VR for pediatric venipuncture.
- Risk of bias assessment and meta-analysis using RevMan 5.3 were performed.
Main Results:
- Ten RCTs involving 874 children were analyzed.
- VR significantly reduced self-reported pain scores (SMD=-0.48) and caregiver-reported pain (SMD=-0.93).
- VR also decreased self-reported anxiety (SMD=-0.45) and caregiver-reported anxiety (SMD=-0.47).
Conclusions:
- Virtual reality technology is effective in alleviating pain and anxiety during pediatric venipuncture.
- VR presents a viable non-pharmacological option for managing procedural pain in children.
- Further research is warranted to optimize VR's role in pediatric venipuncture care.
Background:
Pain management is an important part of nursing care for children. The objective of this study was to systematically assess the impact of virtual reality (VR) technology on alleviating the pain and anxiety experienced by children during venipuncture procedures.
Methods:
This study searched Pubmed, Web of Sciences, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, Medline, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Weipu and China biomedical databases on the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of virtual reality technology for relieving pain and anxiety associated with venous puncture for children up to July 6, 2024. Risk of bias tool recommended by Cochrane library was used to evaluate the RCT quality. RevMan 5.3 software was used for statistical analysis.
Results:
A total of 10 RCTs involving 874 children were included. 429 children received VR intervention during vein puncture. VR was beneficial to reduce the children's self-reported pain scores [SMD=-0.48, 95% CI (- 0.61, - 0.35)], children's caregivers reported needle-related pain level [SMD=-0.93, 95% CI (-1.45, - 0.42)], children's self-reported anxiety scores [SMD=-0.45, 95% CI (- 0.65, - 0.25)], children's caregivers reported needle-related anxiety level [SMD=-0.47, 95% CI (- 0.73, - 0.21)]. Egger regression tests indicated that there were no publication biases in the synthesized outcomes (all P > 0.05).
Conclusions:
VR technology has been shown to effectively mitigate the pain and anxiety experienced by children during venipuncture. Despite the positive findings, more research is needed to better understand the role of VR in children undergoing venipuncture.
