ReviewNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2018
A prescription for "nature" - the potential of using virtual nature in therapeutics.
Review in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
82 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of virtual reality nature effects on higher education students' mental health and wellbeing.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of immersion in a simulated natural environment on stress reduction and emotional arousal: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- An Actual Natural Setting Improves Mood Better Than Its Virtual Counterpart: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Data.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Pooled it
- Effectiveness of immersive VR therapy in reducing stress-associated symptoms in Ukraine.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Trial
- Virtual Reality Interventions of Daily Versus Weekly Data Collection in Patient-Reported Outcomes Among Adults With Cancer: Pilot Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- Effects of Virtual Reality on Pain, Stress, and Affect in an Outpatient Chemotherapy Infusion Clinic: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Clinical journal of oncology nursing · 2025Trial
- Actual and Virtual Parks Benefit Quality of Life and Physical Activity: A Cluster Trial.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2024Trial
- Brief repeated virtual nature contact for three weeks boosts university students' nature connectedness and psychological and physiological health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A pilot study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Trial
- Comparative Study of the Restorative Effects of Forest and Urban Videos during COVID-19 Lockdown: Intrinsic and Benchmark Values.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Bringing the Green Environment From Outdoors to Indoors Through Virtual Reality for Psychological Well-Being: Quasi-Experimental Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- The Impact of Self-Managed Virtual Reality Relaxation on Non-invasive Ambulatory Physiological Markers in Home-Based Psychiatric Care.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2026Article
- Virtual Nature, Metaverse, and NAD⁺: A Narrative Review for Health Planning and Healthy Ageing.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Differential effects of simulated restorative environments on subjective and objective attentional outcomes.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Virtual nature, real relief: how exposure to virtual natural environments reduces anxiety, stress, and depression in healthy adults.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- Outdoor Natural Versus Built Experiments: A Scoping Review and Methodological Recommendations for Psychological Science.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- General Practitioners' Perceptions on Prescribing Coastal Visits for Mental Health in Flanders (Belgium).Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Immersive virtual nature for improving psychological distress of breast cancer patients undergoing intravenous chemotherapy.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Therapeutic Potentials of Virtual Blue Spaces: A Study on the Physiological and Psychological Health Benefits of Virtual Waterscapes.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Immersive Virtual Reality for Postoperative Pain Among Older Adults: A Scoping Review.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2025Review
22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many studies suggest that increased exposure to urban greenness is associated with better population health. Accessing nature can in some circumstances, however, be difficult, especially for individuals with mobility constraints. Therefore, a growing body of work is investigating the ways to replace the in vivo experience with forms of "virtual" contact, in order to provide these individuals with at least some benefits of the natural environment. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of previous use of virtual reality (VR) nature in health and care settings and contemplate the potential use of this technology in future. Our central question is whether engaging with virtual nature can contribute to enhanced physical and emotional well-being in housebound or mobility-constrained individuals. We conclude that while contact with real-world nature is preferred, VR use can be an alternative in cases when in vivo contact with nature is not possible. There are many possibilities for the use of VR technology in psychiatric and medical care; however, the risks, benefits, and cost efficiency of these attempts should be carefully assessed and the outcomes should be measured in a scientifically valid manner. The current review has nonetheless demonstrated that VR nature could play a role in each of the proposed mediating mechanisms linking natural environments and health.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.