Trial reportJournal of medical Internet research2022
Distracting Through Procedural Pain and Distress Using Virtual Reality and Guided Imagery in Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Patients: Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Journal of medical Internet research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 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.
Comparison of Guided Imagery and Virtual Reality (VR) Technology on Patient and Parent Coping and Resource Utilization During Unsedated Procedures
The Effect of Musical-Animated Toys and Audio Books on Fear, and Pain in the Tracheostomy Care of Children in the Palliative Care
Effect of Short Film Video Training Prepared for Children Undergoing Bone Marrow Aspiration and Biopsy on Children's Anxiety, Fear, Pain and Satisfaction
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Use of Waivers of Guardian Permission in the United States for Pediatric Digital Health Intervention Research Since 2020: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- OncoVR - Virtual Reality in Oncology for Patient-centered Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current oncology reports · 2026Pooled it
- Feasibility and Acceptability of Perioperative Application of Biofeedback-Based Virtual Reality vs Control for Pain and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Undergoing Surgery: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- Effects of pre-procedural video education and intra-procedural virtual reality on anxiety and pain during flexible cystoscopy: a randomized controlled trial.BMC urology · 2026Trial
- Managing emotional distress in older adults with mental illness: a randomized controlled trial evaluating virtual reality relaxation.Translational psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Virtual Reality for the Management of Postoperative Pain and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Undergoing Nuss Repair of Pectus Excavatum: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR perioperative medicine · 2026Trial
- The effect of preoperative virtual reality on anxiety, pain and postoperative recovery in children undergoing circumcision.BMC pediatrics · 2025Trial
- Personalized Virtual Reality Compared With Guided Imagery for Enhancing the Impact of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Training: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mental health · 2024Trial
- Effect of guided imagery relaxation on anxiety in cervical cancer: randomized clinical trial.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2023Trial
- Virtual Reality for Managing Procedural Pain and Distress in Paediatrics: A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Article
- Randomized-controlled trial of skills-based vr vs. distraction vr vs. sham VR for chronic low back pain.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Extended Reality (XR) in Pediatric Acute and Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Evidence Gap Map.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2025Review
- Feasibility, acceptability, patient experience, and preliminary efficacy of a virtual reality guided imagery intervention for chronic pain.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Experiences of Second-Grade Primary School Children and Their Teachers in a Mind-Body Activity Program: A Descriptive Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Virtual Reality in Acute and Chronic Pain Medicine: An Updated Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Review
- Effects of virtual reality OSCE on nursing students' education: a study protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Psychological/behavioral interventions for emerging adults with chronic pain.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Developing rights-based standards for children having tests, treatments, examinations and interventions: using a collaborative, multi-phased, multi-method and multi-stakeholder approach to build consensus.European journal of pediatrics · 2023Article
- Review
- A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials on Virtual Reality Application in Pediatric Patients.Cureus · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChildren with acute and chronic illness undergo frequent, painful, and distressing procedures.
objectiveThis randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the effectiveness of guided imagery (GI) versus virtual reality (VR) on the procedural pain and state anxiety of children and young adults undergoing unsedated procedures. We explored the role of trait anxiety and pain catastrophizing in intervention response.
methodsChildren and young adults were recruited from the hematology, oncology, and blood and marrow transplant clinics at a children's hospital. Each study participant completed the GI and VR intervention during separate but consecutive unsedated procedures. Self-report measures of pain and anxiety were completed before and after the procedures.
resultsA total of 50 participants (median age 13 years) completed both interventions. GI and VR performed similarly in the management of procedural pain. Those with high pain catastrophizing reported experiencing less nervousness about pain during procedures that used VR than those using GI. State anxiety declined pre- to postprocedure in both interventions; however, the decrease reached the level of significance during the VR intervention only. Those with high trait anxiety had less pain during GI.
conclusionsIn our sample, VR worked as well as GI to manage the pain and distress associated with common procedures experienced by children with acute or chronic illnesses. Children who are primed for pain based on beliefs about pain or because of their history of chronic pain had a better response to VR. GI was a better intervention for those with high trait anxiety.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04892160; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04892160.
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.