ArticleCritical care explorations2021
Virtual Reality to Improve Sequelae of the Postintensive Care Syndrome: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study.
Article in Critical care explorations, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of targeted post-acute interventions and follow-up services for sepsis survivors: a systematic review.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring the effectiveness of eHealth interventions in treating Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) outcomes: a systematic review.Critical care (London, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- ICU-specific virtual reality for mental health after critical illness: an international three-arm randomized clinical trial.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Trial
- Effect of an intensive care unit virtual reality intervention on relatives´ mental health distress: a multicenter, randomized controlled trial.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Trial
- Intensive Care Unit-Specific Virtual Reality for Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19: Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Patient-reported outcomes and experience measures in clinical trials of critically ill adults with sepsis: a scoping review.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2026Article
- Article
- Feasibility, effectiveness and patient experience of virtual reality technology in intensive care units patients: A mixed-methods systematic review.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Review
- Nursing Intervention to Support Psychological Recovery Among Intensive Care Patients and Their Families: A Systematic Review with Narrative Synthesis.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Review
- An augmented rehabilitation package incorporating immersive virtual reality during early recovery after ARDS: A randomized controlled trial.Annals of intensive care · 2026Article
- Videoart in the intensive care unit: A prospective observational study.Journal of intensive medicine · 2025Article
- Extended reality in anesthesia: a narrative review.Korean journal of anesthesiology · 2025Review
- Mobilization in Neurocritical Care: Challenges and Opportunities.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2024Review
- Reporting Guidelines for the Early-Phase Clinical Evaluation of Applications Using Extended Reality: RATE-XR Qualitative Study Guideline.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Immersive Virtual Reality Use in Medical Intensive Care: Mixed Methods Feasibility Study.JMIR serious games · 2024Article
- From bedside to recovery: exercise therapy for prevention of post-intensive care syndrome.Journal of intensive care · 2024Review
- The impact of virtual reality on the psychological well-being of hospitalised patients: A critical review.Heliyon · 2024Review
- Virtual and augmented reality in intensive care medicine: a systematic review.Annals of intensive care · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Psychologic sequelae after critical illness, part of the postintensive care syndrome, significantly decrease quality of life. A robustly effective treatment intervention is currently lacking. Virtual reality has beneficial effects on several non-ICU-related psychologic disorders. The aim of this study was to explore patient-related determinants of ICU-specific virtual reality, such as the timing of patients' self-reported readiness to initiate virtual reality and the number of desired sessions and safety, and to explore the effects of ICU-specific virtual reality on mental health.
designA multicenter, randomized controlled feasibility study.
settingICU at a university teaching hospital and a secondary care hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. PATIENTS: Consecutive mechanically ventilated patients with sepsis or septic shock.
interventionsPatients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive ICU-specific virtual reality (ICU-specific virtual reality group) or exposure to a nature virtual reality environment (control virtual reality group). MEASUREMENT AND MAIN
resultsExplorative outcomes were feasibility, in terms of patient-related determinants, and safety. The effects of ICU-specific virtual reality on the psychologic components of postintensive care syndrome and quality of life were additionally studied. Fifty patients (median age: 61 yr; 21 [42%] female) were included. Patients in the ICU-specific virtual reality group felt ready to initiate the virtual reality intervention 10 days (median, 95% range, 5-21 d) after ICU discharge, and one session (median, 95% range, 1-6) was desired. ICU-specific virtual reality patients experienced higher immersion, cybersickness scores were low, and no changes in vital signs were observed. They also reported reduced posttraumatic stress disorder and depression scores and better mental health from 2 days until 1 month after initial exposure (Short Form-12 Mental Component Scale: ICU-specific virtual reality, 57 [36-67] vs control virtual reality, 47 [26-63];
conclusionsICU-specific virtual reality is a feasible and acceptable novel intervention that could be used during recovery from an episode of critical illness in the ICU. A future, adequately powered study should confirm whether virtual reality is able to improve mental health and quality of life.
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