SynthesisBMC medical education2025
Immersive virtual reality based on head-mounted display in medical education: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC medical education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The influence of immersive tools on children's dental anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness and Safety of Virtual Reality Interventions for Symptom Management in Adults Undergoing Hemodialysis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Immersive Virtual Reality Interventions on Symptom Management in Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- 360° Video-Based Virtual Reality for Preparing Medical Students for Body Donor Dissection: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2026Trial
- Haptic Virtual Reality Training for Combined Spinal-Epidural Anesthesia in Anesthesiology Trainees: Prospective Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.JMIR serious games · 2026Article
- Reimagining pain procedural education through spatial education co-presence through recorded avatar (SPECTRA) lessons.Interventional pain medicine · 2026Article
- Mapping the research landscape of virtual reality and artificial intelligence in medical education evaluation: A bibliometric analysis.Medicine · 2026Article
- Feasibility Evaluation of a Standalone Virtual Reality System for Neonatal Resuscitation Training.Journal of medical systems · 2026Article
- Comparing Mixed Reality and Two-Dimensional Imaging in Mandibular Fracture Classification: A Prospective Randomized Study in Medical and Dental Students.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Research progress on the application of virtual simulation in medical education.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Transforming surgical ward rounds: constructivist pedagogy, structured models, and intelligent technologies.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
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
Abstract
introductionImmersive virtual reality (IVR) based on head-mounted displays (HMD), can construct virtual learning environments for medical education. This study aims to explore the application and effectiveness of IVR in medical education.
methodsThis review followed the PRISMA guidelines and searched the databases of Web of Science, Springer Link, PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Science Direct for controlled experimental studies published between January 1 2017 and October 1, 2025 on the application of IVR to medical education.
results36 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Among them 34 reported significantly better objective learning outcomes and 29 showed more positive subjective feedback. The findings suggest that IVR is particularly effective in areas such as clinical surgery training, anatomy education, medical skill development, and nursing education. IVR demonstrates long-term effects in medical knowledge acquirement.
conclusionsThe systematic review reveals that IVR is particularly effective in practice-based medical education. It highlights that VR demonstrates superior long-term knowledge retention and knowledge enhancement. A comprehensive evaluation of IVR use in medical education requires additional perspectives from teachers, and consideration from the dark side of IVR, i.e., technology-induced stress and time. Future IVR implementation in medical education calls for more efforts to address challenges in user adaptability, cost, privacy and regulatory compliance.
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.