ReviewJMIR serious games2022
Effect of Virtual Reality on Pediatric Pain and Fear During Procedures Involving Needles: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Review in JMIR serious games, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of virtual reality on pain, anxiety, and delirium in pediatric surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Pediatric surgery international · 2025Pooled it
- Equity implications of extended reality technologies for health and procedural anxiety: a systematic review and implementation-focused framework.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of tablet-based augmented reality on anxiety, fear, and pain during venipuncture in children: a randomized controlled trial.BMC pediatrics · 2026Trial
- The effect of virtual reality and buzzy® on pain, fear, and anxiety during skin prick testing in children: a randomized controlled trial.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Trial
- The effect of virtual reality on skin prick test-related pain and fear in children: a randomized controlled trial.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Trial
- The effect of virtual reality versus standard-of-care treatment on pain perception during paediatric vaccination: A randomised controlled trial.Journal of clinical nursing · 2025Trial
- Assessing Pain in Children: A Narrative Review of Distraction-Based Interventions and Outcome Measurement Tools.Paediatric & neonatal pain · 2026Review
- Immersive Virtual Reality for Pediatric Procedural Pain and Anxiety: A Structured Narrative Review and Developmentally Informed Framework for Clinical Matching and AI-Supported Personalization.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Review
- Virtual reality for managing pain and fear and anxiety during pediatric needle procedures: an umbrella review.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2026Article
- Immediate and Short-Term Effects of Nature-Based Immersive Virtual Reality During Dry Needling: A Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- VR-guided deep breathing during needle procedures in children.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The Role of Stress in Venipuncture Pain in Adolescents: Secondary Analysis of a Prospective Observational Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- AMXRA Guidelines on Extended Reality (XR) and Children: Considerations for Safe and Effective Application Development and Use.Journal of medical extended reality · 2025Article
- Extended Reality Analgesia Evidence Reviews Often Lack Sufficient Intervention Detail.Journal of medical extended reality · 2024Article
- An Exposure-Based Video Game (Dr. Zoo) to Reduce Needle Phobia in Children Aged 3 to 6 Years: Development and Mixed Methods Pilot Study.JMIR serious games · 2023Article
- The Use of Virtual Reality Interventions to Promote Positive Mental Health: Systematic Literature Review.JMIR mental health · 2023Review
- Review
- Extended reality interventions for health and procedural anxiety: An overview of reviews.Digital healthReview
- Feasibility of Virtual Reality Immersion in Reducing Pain and Anxiety during External Fixator Care Procedures.Strategies in trauma and limb reconstructionArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVirtual reality (VR) is used as a distraction measure during painful clinical procedures associated with the use of needles. These procedures include vaccinations, blood draws, or the administration of medications, which can cause children to feel increased levels of pain and fear.
objectiveThe objective of this study was to collect and analyze the current evidence regarding the effectiveness of VR as a tool to distract children from pain and fear during needle procedures as compared to that of standard techniques.
methodsA systematic review and meta-analysis was performed. We included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs with participants younger than 21 years who underwent needle procedures in which the main distraction measure used was VR and where the main outcome measure was pain. The databases searched included the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Cochrane libraries. In this systematic review, the studies were analyzed by applying the Critical Appraisal Skills Program guide in Spanish and the Jadad scale. In the meta-analysis, the effect size of the studies was analyzed based on the results for pain and fear in children.
resultsFrom 665 unique search results, 21 studies were included in this systematic review, most of which reported low methodological quality. The study sample cohorts ranged from a minimum of 15 participants to a maximum of 220 participants. Ten studies were included in the meta-analysis. The global effect of using VR as a distraction measure was a significant reduction in pain (inverse variance [IV] -2.37, 95% CI -3.20 to -1.54; Z=5.58; P<.001) and fear (IV -1.26, 95% CI -1.89 to -0.63; Z=3.92; P<.001) in children in the experimental groups.
conclusionsThe quality of the studies was mostly low. The main limitations were the impossibility of blinding the participants and health care personnel to the VR intervention. Nonetheless, the use of VR as a distraction measure was effective in reducing pain and fear in children during procedures involving needles.
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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.