ReviewCancers2023
Immersive and Non-Immersive Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management in Pediatric Patients with Hematological or Solid Cancer: A Systematic Review.
Review in Cancers, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 16 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.
Effect of Short Film Video Training Prepared for Children Undergoing Bone Marrow Aspiration and Biopsy on Children's Anxiety, Fear, Pain and Satisfaction
The Effect of Virtual Reality Headset Use on Pain, Comfort, and Psychosocial Symptoms in Children Undergoing Hypospadias Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled 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
- Comparison of the effectiveness of immersive and non-immersive virtual reality in the treatment of vertigo in patients with peripheral vestibular dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled 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
- The effect of virtual reality glasses used during inhaler treatment on anxiety, fear and vital signs in children: a randomized controlled trial.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Trial
- Effect of nurse-led intervention programs based on spiritual care on the resilience and death anxiety in parents of children and adolescents with cancer, a randomized clinical trial.BMC psychology · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Virtual reality vs. Tablet video for venipuncture education in children: A randomized clinical trial.PloS one · 2024Trial
- Telemedicine and Virtual Reality Technologies in Pain Management for Cancer Patients: A Structured Narrative Review.Current treatment options in oncology · 2026Review
- Virtual Reality as a Non-Pharmacological Aid for Reducing Anxiety in Pediatric Dental Procedures.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
- Extended Reality Analgesia Evidence Reviews Often Lack Sufficient Intervention Detail.Journal of medical extended reality · 2024Article
- Virtual Reality to Improve the Psychological and Physical Well-Being in Cancer Patients: An Umbrella Review.Cancers · 2024Review
- Virtual Reality Therapy for the Management of Chronic Spinal Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR serious games · 2024Review
- Perceived Effects of Customized Avatars in a Multiplatform Virtual Environment on Pain and Anxiety in Hospitalized Children in Hemato-Oncology.Global qualitative nursing researchArticle
- Extended reality interventions for health and procedural anxiety: An overview of reviews.Digital healthReview
- Virtual Reality and Digital Interventions in Cancer Pain Relief: A New Frontier in Supportive Oncology Care.Journal of mid-life healthReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Invasive and painful procedures, which often induce feelings of anxiety, are necessary components of pediatric cancer treatment, and adequate pain and anxiety management during these treatments is of pivotal importance. In this context, it is widely recognized that a holistic approach, including pharmacological and non-pharmacological modalities, such as distraction techniques, should be the standard of care. Recent evidence suggested the use of virtual reality (VR) as an effective non-pharmacological intervention in pediatrics. Therefore, this systematic review aims to analyze previously published studies on the effectiveness of VR for the management of pain and/or anxiety in children and adolescents with hematological or solid cancer. Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science, ProQuest, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were used to search for relevant studies in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. Randomized controlled trial, crossover trial, cluster randomized trial, and quasi-experimental studies were included. Thirteen studies, published between 1999 and 2022, that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included. Regarding the primary outcomes measured, pain was considered in five studies, anxiety in three studies, and the remaining five studies analyzed the effectiveness of VR for both pain and anxiety reduction. Our findings suggested a beneficial effect of VR during painful vascular access procedures. Limited data are available on the reduction of anxiety in children with cancer.
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.