ReviewHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2024
A Systematic Review of Virtual Reality's Impact on Anxiety During Palliative Care.
Review in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07567391 (Virtual Reality Nature Therapy for Palliative Patients and Caregivers in Saudi Arabia), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
Virtual Reality Nature Therapy for Palliative Patients and Caregivers in Saudi Arabia: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Support Quality of Life and Cultural Adaptation
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Between reality and meaning: a qualitative study on virtual reality as a compassionate technology in end-of-life care.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2026Article
- The Impact of Patient and Professional Users' Involvement in Implementation for Virtual Reality in Hospitalised Palliative Cancer Patients in a German Cancer Centre-A Qualitative Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- "I Don't Get to Feel This Good Very Often:" Virtual Reality Intervention for Veterans Receiving End-of-Life Care.Journal of palliative medicine · 2026Article
- Impact of a Single Virtual Reality Relaxation Session on Mental-Health Outcomes in Frontline Workers on Duty During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Preliminary Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVirtual Reality (VR) is an emerging non-pharmacological treatment for anxiety in palliative care patients. Anxiety, a common symptom in this population, has a significant effect on living standards. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effectiveness of VR interventions in reducing anxiety and improving quality of life in palliative care.
methodsThe systematic review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024517914). The comprehensive search was performed in nine databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO, and EMBASE, and included studies published up to 15 November 2024. RCTs, pilot studies, and feasibility trials involving adult palliative care patients in which VR interventions were used, were compared with standard care. Two reviewers independently extracted and assessed the quality of the data using the RoB 2 tool.
resultsA total of 13 studies were considered eligible, with 333 participants aged 15 to 85 years old. In these experiments, anxiety decreased steadily, and in some cases mood and quality of life were improved significantly. The VR interventions ranged from guided nature walks to memory-training sessions. Sessions lasted between 5 and 30 min and ranged in duration from single sessions to daily use. Personalized and participatory VR-based content was particularly effective in alleviating anxiety. The heterogeneity of the study designs and VR protocols hampered meta-analysis, despite promising findings.
conclusionsVR has considerable potential as an adjunctive anxiety therapy for palliative care. The personalization and immersion that VR provides are psychologically unique and have the potential to lower anxiety and improve well-being. But standardizing intervention protocols and more studies are required to define the best VR strategies and evaluate outcomes over the long term. The article highlights the promise of VR as part of palliative care as a viable bio-psycho-socio-spiritual approach.
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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.