ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2026
Willingness, Challenges, and Perceptions of Patients' Family Members and Health Care Providers Regarding Virtual Reality-Based Preoperative Intensive Care Unit Visits for Elective Surgery: Qualitative Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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7 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Perioperative information asymmetry regarding intensive care unit (ICU) care remains a critical unmet clinical need. Traditional preoperative visits focus primarily on surgical risks but provide insufficient education about postoperative ICU stays, leading to widespread cognitive biases and anxiety among patients' family members. Virtual reality (VR) technology offers immersive, standardized information delivery that could address these gaps, yet research on VR-based preoperative ICU visits from the dual perspectives of health care providers and patients' family members remains limited. Objective: This study aimed to explore the willingness, perceptions, and information needs of ICU health care providers and patients' family members regarding VR-based preoperative ICU visits for patients undergoing elective surgery, and to identify core user-centered design requirements and implementation barriers to inform evidence-based system development. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted in 2 ICUs of a tertiary hospital in Jinan, Shandong Province, China, between April and July 2025. Twenty-nine participants (n=15 nurses, n=6 physicians, and n=8 patients' family members) were recruited using purposive sampling with maximum variation. The data were collected via semistructured face-to-face interviews and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's 6-phase reflexive thematic analysis framework, rooted in a constructivist epistemology. This study adhered to the COREQ (Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research) guidelines. Results: A total of 29 participants were interviewed (including n=15 nurses, n=6 physicians, and n=8 patients' family members), leading to the identification of four main themes: (1) patients' family members' perceptions and unmet information needs regarding the ICU, (2) willingness and attitudes toward VR-based preoperative ICU visits, (3) user-centered design requirements for VR systems, and (4) anticipated implementation barriers. Conclusions: This study provides the first dual-perspective needs assessment of VR-based preoperative ICU visits in China. All stakeholders expressed high anticipated acceptance of this technology, though their specific priorities differed. These findings establish a foundational evidence base for developing user-centered VR preoperative visit systems and support further evaluation of their clinical effectiveness and implementation feasibility.
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