ArticleJournal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education2022
Virtual Reality-Based Education for Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy.
Article in Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- OncoVR - Virtual Reality in Oncology for Patient-centered Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current oncology reports · 2026Pooled it
- Application of virtual reality for supportive care in cancer patients: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review of immersive educational technologies in medical physics and radiation physics.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- The influence of virtual reality on anxiety and pain in breast cancer patients: A systematic review.Technical innovations & patient support in radiation oncology · 2026Review
- Who can hold their breath? understanding individual patient's needs and screening for deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH) suitability in rural cancer care: a retrospective evaluation.Technical innovations & patient support in radiation oncology · 2026Article
- The Contemporary Role of Virtual and Augmented Reality in Radiation Oncology: A Review.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Review
- Virtual, Augmented, Mixed, and Immersive Technologies for Prenatal and Childbirth Education: Scoping Review.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2026Review
- Scoping insights into the application of virtual reality in patient care and clinical practice.Osong public health and research perspectives · 2026Article
- Predictors of Successful First-Attempt Prostate Cancer Computed Tomography Simulation: A Prospective Cohort Study.Advances in radiation oncology · 2026Article
- Evaluating ChatGPT-4o and DeepSeek-R1 for Patient Education in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Radiotherapy: a Comparative Analysis.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- The use of virtual reality in cancer patient health education: A scoping review.International journal of nursing sciences · 2026Review
- Patients' willingness and needs for ICU virtual reality visits before elective surgery: a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Virtual Reality to Improve the Psychological and Physical Well-Being in Cancer Patients: An Umbrella Review.Cancers · 2024Review
- The Use of a Novel Virtual Reality Training Tool for Peritoneal Dialysis: Qualitative Assessment Among Health Care Professionals.JMIR medical education · 2024Article
- Factors Associated With Continuous Use of a Cancer Education Metaverse Platform: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Impact of patient information format on the experience of cancer patients treated with radiotherapy.Technical innovations & patient support in radiation oncology · 2024Review
- Smartphone-based augmented reality patient education in radiation oncology.Technical innovations & patient support in radiation oncology · 2024Article
- A multi-centre survey of New Zealand cancer patients' preferences for radiation treatment information.Journal of medical radiation sciences · 2024Article
- Design and implementation of a prototype radiotherapy menu in a patient portal.Journal of applied clinical medical physics · 2024Article
- Interventional Glaucoma: Improving the Patient-Provider Educational Exchange.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We built a virtual reality (VR) application that runs on a commercially available standalone VR headset that allows patients to view a virtual simulation of themselves receiving radiotherapy. The purpose of this study was to determine if this experience can improve patient understanding of radiotherapy and/or reduce patient anxiety. We created software that reads data from our clinical treatment planning system and renders the plan on a life-size "virtual linear accelerator." The patient's CT simulation data is converted into a 3D translucent virtual human shown lying on the treatment table while visible yellow radiation beams are delivered to the target volumes in the patient. We conducted a prospective study to determine if showing patients their radiotherapy plan in VR improves patient education and/or reduces anxiety about treatment. A total of 43 patients were enrolled. The most common plans were 3D breast tangents and intensity-modulated radiotherapy prostate plans. Patients were administered pre- and post-experience questionnaires. Thirty-two patients (74%) indicated that they "strongly agree" that the VR session gave them a better understanding of how radiotherapy will be used to treat their cancer. Of the 21 patients who expressed any anxiety about radiotherapy beforehand, 12 (57%) said that the VR session helped decrease their anxiety about undergoing radiotherapy. In our single-institution, single-arm prospective patient study, we found that the majority of patients reported that the personalized VR experience was educational and can reduce anxiety. VR technology has potential to be a powerful adjunctive educational tool for cancer patients about to undergo radiotherapy.
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.