Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33821879›Full record

SynthesisAnnals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine2021

Using Virtual Technology for Fear of Medical Procedures: A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Virtual Reality-Based Interventions.

Ayşenur Kılıç, Ashley Brown, Işıl Aras, Rita Hui, Jennifer Hare, Lyndsay D Hughes, Lance M McCracken

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07319039 (Breathlessness Patterns in Patients With Cancer, COPD and Heart Failure), which is not on this map. Cited by 24 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
13.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT07319039 recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Breathlessness Patterns in Patients With Cancer, COPD and Heart Failure: an fMRI Feasibility Study

TypeobservationalSponsorUniversity Hospital, GenevaRan2025 to 2027Enrolled16ConditionsChronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Heart Failure, Cancer, VolunteersArmsCerebral fMRI, Immersive virtual reality
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Ayşenur KılıçHealth Psychology Section, Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, London Bridge, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9266-5525
Ashley BrownHealth Psychology Section, Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, London Bridge, London, UK.
Işıl ArasSchool of Orthodontics, Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
Rita HuiHealth Psychology Section, Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, London Bridge, London, UK.
Jennifer HareDental Psychology Service, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust, London, UK.
Lyndsay D HughesHealth Psychology Section, Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, London Bridge, London, UK.
Lance M McCrackenPsychology Department, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Guy's Hospital · GBGuy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust · GBJacksonville University · USUppsala University · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInnovations in virtual reality (VR) technologies have improved the adaptability of its use in therapeutic settings, and VR has shown to be a promising treatment for fear of medical procedures, with research increasing in this area in recent years. PURPOSE: This review aims to collate evidence for the impact of VR on fear of medical procedures.

methodsCENTRAL (Cochrane), MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychINFO databases were searched up to October 2020. A mix of experimental and case-control studies were included for review, which evaluated the effectiveness of VR for fear, anxiety, and pain of medical procedures for people with needle phobia, dental phobia, claustrophobia of medical scans, and burn wound care anxiety. Risk of bias (RoB) was assessed by Cochrane and ROBINS-I tools.

resultsTwenty-eight studies were selected. Some studies included mixed participant groups of young people adults. The interventions varied, with VR used for distraction, hypnosis, or exposure. These were shown to be effective for reducing fear of medical procedures. However, effectiveness for blood-injection-injury phobias and burn wound care patients was unclear.

conclusionsEvidence on the effectiveness of VR suggests that it does decrease fear of medical procedures in some situations. However, the RoB assessment illustrated a poor quality of studies across those included in this review, limiting the ability to draw firm general conclusions from the study findings. There is a need for further research exploring the use of VR technologies in the management of anxiety in physical health care settings.

Indexed as

Virtual RealityAdolescentAdultFearHumansPainPain ManagementTechnologyAnxietyMedical proceduresPainVirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID33821879
PMCPMC8557375
OpenAlexW3140077274

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Read underepoch 390

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.