Efficacy of Virtual Reality Glasses on Anxiety, Physiologic Parameters, and Satisfaction Among High-Risk Pregnant Women Undergoing Nonstress Testing: A Quasi-Experimental Study
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026
Virtual Reality Experiments with Physiological Measures
Published on: August 29, 2018
Objective:
To examine the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) glasses on anxiety, physiologic parameters, and satisfaction among high-risk pregnant women undergoing nonstress tests.
Design:
A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design was adopted.
Setting:
This study was conducted at the nonstress test rooms of the Obstetric and Gynecologic Speciality Center at Mansoura University Hospitals.
Participants:
A convenience sample of 106 pregnant women was recruited.
Methods:
A structured interviewing questionnaire schedule, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State subscale, and a maternal satisfaction questionnaire were used to collect data. VR glasses refers to a smartphone-based passive optical viewer that presents calming 360° nature scenes with ambient audio, requiring no interactive input or active sensors and enabling low-cost use at the point of care.
Results:
The VR glasses group demonstrated significantly lower mean anxiety scores compared to the control group (M = 38.2, SD = 11.9 vs. M = 56.1, SD = 13.9; p < .001). Significant improvements were also observed in maternal physiologic parameters, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure and maternal heart rate compared to the control group (all p < .001). Furthermore, maternal satisfaction scores were significantly higher in the VR glasses group (M = 34.7, SD = 1.4) than in the control group (M = 23.4, SD = 1.8; p < .001).
Conclusion:
Pregnant women who used VR glasses during their nonstress test showed significantly lower anxiety scores, improved maternal physiologic parameters, and higher satisfaction scores compared to nonusers. VR glasses can be integrated into routine antenatal care as a supportive, low-cost intervention to improve maternal experience and potentially optimize nonstress test interpretation. Incorporating VR glasses into antenatal education programs can increase awareness of their benefits during nonstress tests among pregnant women.