The Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Interventions on Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol, Physical Activity and/or Obesity Risk Factors: A Systematic Review

Abstract

To our knowledge, no systematic reviews have examined the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) interventions across all smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity, and/or obesity (SNAPO) risk factors. This systematic review assessed the effectiveness of VR interventions on reducing SNAPO risks compared to control groups or other interventions. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL were searched to identify eligible studies published to 7 October 2021. Two reviewers independently completed screening, data extraction and quality assessment. Twenty-six studies were included, five on smoking, twelve on physical activity (PA), six on obesity, one on PA and obesity, one on obesity and nutrition, and one on obesity, nutrition and PA. VR was effective for smoking cessation in three studies and for smoking reduction in four studies. Seven studies had significantly higher PA in the VR group, and one study found significantly higher PA in a comparator group. Two studies showed VR was more effective at reducing BMI or weight than comparators. Three multiple health risks studies showed mixed results. The remaining studies found no significant difference between VR and control/comparators. VR appears promising for the treatment of smoking, nutrition, PA, and obesity risks; however, further randomised trials are needed.

User experience, game satisfaction and engagement with the virtual simulation VR FestLab for alcohol prevention: A quantitative analysis among Danish adolescents

“…Such a generally positive game satisfaction is important, as it has been described that users´ interaction and learning experiences of virtual reality has an impact on the learning outcome hereof [ 38 ]. VR has demonstrated promising effects for smoking, nutrition, physical activity, and obesity [ 11 ] and game satisfaction is an important component for effective VR interventions.…”

“…We can conclude that the virtual simulation game is acceptable and attractive for adolescent users. This is an important finding, since a recent review pointed out that more research on the use of VR interventions on alcohol consumption and on younger age groups is needed [ 11 ].…”

“…With this development, studies exploring the user experience of VR applications are only beginning to emerge and work needs to be expanded [ 8 , 11 ]. Studying user experiences of VR is important for the design face of VR applications in general, where the focus should be not only on the product, process and design but also on the users and their behavior, interactions and emotions [ 12 ].…”

“…There is a need for more studies examining UX evaluations of VR applications in the area of prevention or health promotion [ 11 ], because UX is important for engagement. UX influences the effectiveness and sustainability of prevention tools and must be explored in the context of VR.…”

Rehabilitation Is the Main Topic in Virtual and Augmented Reality and Physical Activity Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Semi-immersive VR generates partially virtual environments where users perceive who is in a different reality focusing on the digital image, while maintaining the link with its physical environment; the immersion is achieved using sensors, displaying powerful graphics, although sometimes, digital media are combined with replicas or physical environments to enhance the immersion [ 3 ]. Lastly, immersive VR offers a more realistic simulation experience with image and sound; it requires VR glasses that often split the screen, creating a stereoscopic 3D effect, combined with an input track to establish a believable experience [ 6 ]. On the other hand, AR [ 7 ] offers an experience which allows for the application of virtual elements in the real world [ 8 ].…”