BACKGROUND
Given the high level of interest and increasing familiarity with Virtual Reality (VR) among adolescents, there is great potential to use VR to address their unique health care delivery needs while in hospital. While there have been reviews into the use of VR for specific health conditions and procedures, none to date have reviewed the full scope of VR hospital interventions for adolescents, who despite experiencing virtual environments differently to younger children, are often combined with them as a homogenous group.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this review was to systematically identify available evidence regarding the use of VR interventions for adolescent patients in hospital settings, to evaluate their effectiveness, suitability and safety, and to identify gaps and opportunities for future research.
METHODS
PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline and Scopus databases were searched using keywords and phrases. Retrieved abstracts (n=1,525) were double screened, yielding 276 articles for screening at the full-text level. Of these, eight articles met the review inclusion criteria. Data were extracted into a standardized coding sheet, and a narrative synthesis was performed due to the heterogeneity of the identified studies.
RESULTS
Four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and four single case report interventions were identified for inclusion, all of which aimed to reduce pain and/or anxiety. The scenarios targeted were burn pain, venepuncture, chemotherapy, pre-operative anxiety, and palliative care. Three out of four RCTs found significant reductions in pain and/or anxiety outcomes measures when using VR compared to standard care or other distraction techniques. However, only one study combined self-reported experiences of pain or anxiety with any physiological measures. Single case reports relied primarily on qualitative feedback, with patients reporting reduced pain and/or anxiety and a preference for VR over no VR.
CONCLUSIONS
VR can provide a safe and engaging way to reduce pain and anxiety in adolescents while in hospital, particularly when VR software is highly immersive and specifically designed for therapeutic purposes. As VR becomes more accessible and affordable for use in hospitals, larger and more diverse studies that capitalise on adolescents’ interest and aptitude towards VR, and the full range of capabilities of this emerging technology, are needed to build on these promising results.