(No) escape from reality? Cigarette craving in virtual smoking environments

Bruijn, Gert-Jan de; Vries, Joost de; Bolman, Catherine; Wiers, Reínout W.

doi:10.1007/s10865-020-00170-1

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The findings are consistent with previous research that found higher craving scores in tobaccorelated environments [42][43][44][45][46]. Despite an expected relationship, the effect of the VE on craving was not significantly correlated with the participant's dependence severity or consumption of cigarettes per day, which can be supported by other cue-reactivity studies [46,47]. However, the moderate negative correlation of age and craving scores might show barriers toward using VR technology with increasing age.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“Go up in smoke”: Feasibility and initial acceptance of a virtual environment to measure tobacco craving in vulnerable individuals

Langener

VanDerNagel

Klaassen

et al. 2021

2021 IEEE 9th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health(SeGAH)

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Tobacco smoking is substantially more prevalent in vulnerable groups, such as people with intellectual disability, psychiatric disorders, or low socioeconomic status. Though smoking cessation programs for the general population are available, accessible and inclusive approaches are lacking. An encouraging new approach toward more practice-oriented and tailorable smoking cessation is virtual reality. Research indicates that virtual environments (VEs) with tobacco-related cues can elicit cue-reactivity (e.g. craving and physiological responses) and provide various new options to integrate treatment approaches. Yet, the potential to elicit cue-reactivity and the practicability of cue-reactivity measures have not been studied in vulnerable groups. This explorative study aggregated the data of twenty-three vulnerable individuals, who present themselves in three clinical settings, to validate the VEs, assess the practicability of several cue-reactivity measures (i.e. selfreport questionnaires, psychophysiological data), and investigate the initial acceptance toward a prototype VE with tobacco-related cues. The results confirm the potential of the VE to elicit tobacco craving compared to baseline scores and craving in a neutral VE, as measured using one-dimensional (VAS) and multi-dimensional scales (QSU-Brief). Furthermore, the participants reported a good initial acceptance toward the VE as a potential treatment for smoking cessation. However, measuring psychophysiological responses in the clinical setting proved to be unfeasible in this research. Future studies should investigate the versatile possibilities of VEs to assess and treat vulnerable groups with tobacco dependence.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“Go up in smoke”: Feasibility and initial acceptance of a virtual environment to measure tobacco craving in vulnerable individuals

Langener

VanDerNagel

Klaassen

et al. 2021

2021 IEEE 9th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health(SeGAH)

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“…In comparison to previous review papers, first and foremost we focused on clinical applicability of the findings, differentiating between promising new concepts and evidence that can be applied in the clinical context. We were able to identify several additional papers that were either published in the past years [20][21][22][23]35,36,42,43,56] or through an additional search in the PsycINFO database [32,41,48,55]. In addition, we limited our review to studies applying HMDs, excluding other devices which are not state of the art and more difficult to apply in clinical practice.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical Relevance of Immersive Virtual Reality in the Assessment and Treatment of Addictive Disorders: A Systematic Review and Future Perspective

Langener

VanDerNagel

Manen

et al. 2021

JCM

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(1) Background: Virtual reality (VR) has been investigated in a variety of psychiatric disorders, including addictive disorders (ADs); (2) Objective: This systematic review evaluates the current evidence of immersive VR (using head-mounted displays) in the clinical assessment and treatment of ADs; (3) Method: PubMed and PsycINFO were queried for publications up to November 2020; (4) Results: We screened 4519 titles, 114 abstracts and 85 full-texts, and analyzed 36 articles regarding the clinical assessment (i.e., diagnostic and prognostic value; n = 19) and treatment (i.e., interventions; n = 17) of ADs. Though most VR assessment studies (n = 15/19) showed associations between VR-induced cue-reactivity and clinical parameters, only two studies specified diagnostic value. VR treatment studies based on exposure therapy showed no or negative effects. However, other VR interventions like embodied and aversive learning paradigms demonstrated positive findings. The overall study quality was rather poor; (5) Conclusion: Though VR in ADs provides ecologically valid environments to induce cue-reactivity and provide new treatment paradigms, the added clinical value in assessment and therapy remains to be elucidated before VR can be applied in clinical care. Therefore, future work should investigate VR efficacy in randomized clinical trials using well-defined clinical endpoints.

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“…These images included smoke and burning cigarettes. The importance of cues in films and advertisements has been highlighted in the literature and is also relevant in this context [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ]. We will pay attention to this very helpful feedback when updating the learning module.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Qualitative Investigation of Staff Feedback on an Online Learning Module on Smoking Cessation in a German Healthcare Company

Vitzthum

Cerci

2023

Healthcare

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Quitting smoking is a powerful way for patients to improve their own wellbeing and to significantly reduce the risk of health problems. Evidence shows that health professionals can effectively intervene in order to prevent and stop tobacco smoking in their patients. Online learning modules have proved to be effective in terms of transferring knowledge and skills. In an urban community hospital setting in Germany, a novel e-learning course for staff on the treatment of tobacco dependence was implemented in 2021. In this study, we analyzed free-text feedback of participants completing this online module in order to examine the feasibility and acceptance of this new format. We were able to reach a reasonable proportion of staff. Our qualitative analysis showed that most feedback was positive and described the module as well-designed and helpful. Some staff, however, expressed extremely negative views and did not see smoking cessation support as essential to their role in healthcare. We argue that in order to achieve a shift in attitude in healthcare staff, a change in German policy is required which includes the creation of smoke-free environments and the adherence to smoke-free policies on hospital sites. Furthermore, the provision of smoking cessation support in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and a true understanding of the role of all healthcare professionals in promoting health of patients and staff will be essential.

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(No) escape from reality? Cigarette craving in virtual smoking environments

Abstract: You will be contacted as soon as possible.

Cited by 10 publications

References 29 publications

“Go up in smoke”: Feasibility and initial acceptance of a virtual environment to measure tobacco craving in vulnerable individuals

“Go up in smoke”: Feasibility and initial acceptance of a virtual environment to measure tobacco craving in vulnerable individuals

Clinical Relevance of Immersive Virtual Reality in the Assessment and Treatment of Addictive Disorders: A Systematic Review and Future Perspective

A Qualitative Investigation of Staff Feedback on an Online Learning Module on Smoking Cessation in a German Healthcare Company

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