Virtual Reality as a Distraction Intervention to Relieve Pain and Distress During Medical Procedures

Abstract

Despite these promising results, future long-term randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes and evaluating not only self-report measures but also physiological variables are needed. Further studies are also required both to establish predictive factors to select patients who can benefit from VR distraction and to design hardware/software systems tailored to the specific needs of different patients and able to provide the greatest distraction at the lowest cost.

Virtual reality and music therapy as distraction interventions to alleviate anxiety and improve mood states in breast cancer patients during chemotherapy

“…Results from the VRSQ showed that all symptoms occurred with a frequency < 20%, which has been considered negligible by the authors of the scale (Ames et al, 2005), except a slight difficulty in concentrating (21.4%). In line with previous observations (Indovina et al, 2018), nausea was very infrequent and mild. Although occurring very infrequently, some symptoms were evaluated by the participants as severe.…”

“…Indeed, a concern regarding the use of VR during medical procedures is that it could lose efficacy over several sessions since individuals might habituate to it. This remains to be assessed, although some encouraging data showed that the benefits of the VR distraction intervention were not lost across at least three sessions, thus suggesting that VR effects are not ascribable only to the experience novelty (Indovina et al, 2018).…”

“…Over the last two decades, virtual reality (VR), a technology that allows users to immerse themselves in a three‐dimensional computer‐generated world, has found a variety of applications in health care (Indovina et al, 2018; Napolitano et al, 2013) and, in particular, has shown efficacy as a distraction tool to alleviate pain and distress during medical procedures, including chemotherapy (Chirico, Lucidi, et al, 2016; Indovina et al, 2018). VR equipment usually includes head‐mounted displays, motion tracking systems, headphones, and devices to interact with the virtual environment.…”

“…A key factor underlying VR distraction power is its ability to engage different senses simultaneously, by providing synthetic stimuli, such as visual imagery, spatialized sound, and sometimes tactile and olfactory feedback. Indeed, the provision of these multimodal stimuli, together with the ability to sense the user's motion and modify the virtual world accordingly, induce a sense of “presence” in the virtual environment, which is an individual user response found to be correlated with VR efficacy (Indovina et al, 2018). Moreover, the VR equipment can visually isolate patients from the medical environment and help them to focus on pleasant stimuli, thus possibly reducing negative emotions and inducing, instead, emotions with a positive valence, which are deemed to influence VR efficacy (Schneider & Hood, 2007; Sharar et al, 2016; Triberti, Repetto, & Riva, 2014).…”

“…Moreover, the VR equipment can visually isolate patients from the medical environment and help them to focus on pleasant stimuli, thus possibly reducing negative emotions and inducing, instead, emotions with a positive valence, which are deemed to influence VR efficacy (Schneider & Hood, 2007; Sharar et al, 2016; Triberti, Repetto, & Riva, 2014). Also, different studies showed that high‐quality and interactive VR systems are more effective (Indovina et al, 2018). Thus, interactivity and immersion (which, unlike the subjective sense of presence, is the objective and measurable level of sensory fidelity provided by VR; Bowman & McMahan, 2007) are crucial factors impacting on VR distraction efficacy.…”