Feasibility and usability study of a pilot immersive virtual reality‐based empathy training for dental providers

Amini, Homa; Gregory, Megan E.; Abrams, Mary Ann; Luna, John; Roland, M; Sova, Lindsey N.; Bean, Canise Y.; Huang, Yungui; Pfeil, Sheryl; Townsend, Janice A.; Lin, En-Ju D.

doi:10.1002/jdd.12566

Cited by 22 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…Similar findings have been reported among medical students: those participating in fully immersive VR reported significantly higher gains in knowledge than students in partially immersive VR [ 33 ]. Another recent study focused on social determinants of health and empathy in dental education found that 360-degree, immersive VR improved cognitive, affective, and skills-based learning in residents and faculty [ 34 ]. Overall, these findings combined with the qualitative responses from our participants underscore the importance of immersive VR to enhance the user experience and improve learning outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives of 360-Degree Cinematic Virtual Reality: Interview Study Among Health Care Professionals

Beverly¹,

Rigot²,

Love³

et al. 2022

JMIR Med Educ

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Background The global market for medical education is projected to increase exponentially over the next 5 years. A mode of delivery expected to drive the growth of this market is virtual reality (VR). VR simulates real-world objects, events, locations, and interactions in 3D multimedia sensory environments. It has been used successfully in medical education for surgical training, learning anatomy, and advancing drug discovery. New VR research has been used to simulate role-playing and clinical encounters; however, most of this research has been conducted with health professions students and not current health care professionals. Thus, more research is needed to explore how health care professionals experience VR with role-playing and clinical encounters. Objective The aim of this study was to explore health care professionals’ experiences with a cinematic VR (cine-VR) training program focused on role-playing and clinical encounters addressing social determinants of health, Appalachian culture, and diabetes. Cine-VR leverages 360-degree video with the narrative storytelling of cinema to create an engaging educational experience. Methods We conducted in-depth telephone interviews with health care professionals who participated in the cine-VR training. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. A multidisciplinary team coded and analyzed the data using content and thematic analyses with NVivo software. Results We conducted 24 in-depth interviews with health care professionals (age=45.3, SD 11.3, years; n=16, 67%, women; n=22, 92%, White; and n=4, 17%, physicians) to explore their experiences with the cine-VR training. Qualitative analysis revealed five themes: immersed in the virtual world: seeing a 360-degree sphere allowed participants to immerse themselves in the virtual world; facilitated knowledge acquisition: all the participants accurately recalled the culture of Appalachia and listed the social determinants of health presented in the training; empathized with multiple perspectives: the cine-VR provided a glimpse into the real life of the main character, and participants described thinking about, feeling, and empathizing with the character’s frustrations and disappointments; perceived ease of use of cine-VR: 96% (23/24) of the participants described the cine-VR as easy to use, and they liked the 360-degree movement, image resolution, and sound quality but noted limitations with the buttons on the headsets and risk for motion sickness; and perceived utility of cine-VR as a teaching tool: participants described cine-VR as an effective teaching tool because it activated visual and affective learning for them. Conclusions Participants emphasized the realism of the cine-VR training program. They attributed the utility of the cine-VR to visual learning in conjunction with the emotional connection to the VR characters. Furthermore, participants reported that the cine-VR increased their empathy for people. More research is needed to confirm an association between the level of immersion and empathy in cine-VR training for health care professionals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives of 360-Degree Cinematic Virtual Reality: Interview Study Among Health Care Professionals

Beverly¹,

Rigot²,

Love³

et al. 2022

JMIR Med Educ

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“…Eight studies applied virtual strategies in teaching miscellaneous dental skills; critical thinking, 82 professionalism, 83 scientific writing, 84 knowledge of home dental practice, 85 head and neck anatomy, 86 dental morphology, 87 dental diagnosis, 88 and social aspects of dental care delivery. 89 Total included participants were n = 543. Characteristics of the selected studies are shown in ►Table 9.…”

Section: Miscellaneous Dental Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Virtual Reality and Interactive Simulators on Dental Education Outcomes: Systematic Review

et al. 2021

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In recent years, virtual reality and interactive digital simulations have been used in dental education to train dental students before interacting with real patients. Scientific evidence presented the application of virtual technology in dental education and some recent publications suggested that virtual and haptic technologies may have positive effects on dental education outcomes. The aim of this systematic review was to determine whether virtual technologies have positive effects on dental education outcomes and to explore the attitudes of dental students and educators toward these technologies. A thorough search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE (via EBSCO), The Cochrane Library (via Wiley), Web of Science Core Collection (via Thomson Reuters), and Dentistry and Oral Science source (via EBSCO) using the keywords (student, dental) AND (education, dental) AND (virtual reality) OR (augmented reality) OR (haptics) OR (simulation) AND (dentistry) OR (dental medicine). The quality of the reported information was assessed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement for systematic reviews. A total of 73 publications were considered for this review. Fifty-two of the selected studies showed significant improvement in educational outcomes and virtual technologies were positively perceived by all the participants. Within the limitations of this review, virtual technology appears to improve education outcomes in dental students. Further studies with larger samples and longer term clinical trials are needed to substantiate this potential positive impact of various virtual technologies on dental education outcomes.

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“…Within these formats, communication skills, reporting skills in radiographic interpretation of bony lesions, intraoral anesthetic administration, cavity or crown preparation, or polymerization skills for fillings are practiced on patient cases. 1,2,5,[7][8][9][10][11]14,[17][18][19][20] Communication and patient case assessments in the dental field 21,22 or surgical skills with related clinical anatomy with lecturers, 23 classical anatomy teaching 24,25 or surgical training for orthognathic surgery in the sense of Le Fort I surgery and implantological procedures 6,12 can also be trained in XR in the meantime.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual dental teaching and its effect on test success – A cross‐over study

Liebermann

Seefelder

Nold

et al. 2021

Journal of Dental Education

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The aim of this cross-over investigation was to analyze the effect of virtual teaching using virtual reality (VR) within a dental learning environment by preclinical students with or without dental professional experience on test performance.Methods: Preclinical students (N = 82) were randomly divided into two groups for cross-over testing of tooth morphology knowledge: (a) anterior VR-group (group 1) using the VR-glasses as an additional learning tool for the anterior tooth morphologies and (b) posterior VR-group (group 2) using it for the posterior tooth morphologies also in addition to conventional learning. All students used the VR-glasses for 1 week independent of time and location depending on group. The students had to recognize teeth (anterior or posterior within two separate tests after three [anterior test] and 6 weeks [posterior test] of practical course) and note the tooth number and characteristics in written form. Former dental experience (dental technician/assistance) was noted. Test results were analyzed to quantify the effect of virtual teaching on test scores. Data were analyzed with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Mann-Whitney U test (p = 0.05). Results: By differentiating the two student groups (use of VR glasses for anterior/posterior teeth) within the dental experience group, significantly better test results (p = 0.040) were shown for group 1 in the total posterior teeth test score. Furthermore, no other significant differences, but a possible tendency, in the test results and thus no effect of the use of the VR glasses on both VR groups could be analyzed (p ≥ 0.051). Conclusions:Using the VR tooth learning environment predominantly did not lead to a significant improvement of test results. Anterior teeth test scores predominantly showed significantly better results than posterior teeth test scores.

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Feasibility and usability study of a pilot immersive virtual reality‐based empathy training for dental providers

Cited by 22 publications

References 13 publications

Perspectives of 360-Degree Cinematic Virtual Reality: Interview Study Among Health Care Professionals

Perspectives of 360-Degree Cinematic Virtual Reality: Interview Study Among Health Care Professionals

Effectiveness of Virtual Reality and Interactive Simulators on Dental Education Outcomes: Systematic Review

Virtual dental teaching and its effect on test success – A cross‐over study

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