A Preoperative Virtual Reality App for Patients Scheduled for Cardiac Catheterization: Pre–Post Questionnaire Study Examining Feasibility, Usability, and Acceptability

Clinical application of virtual reality in patients with cardiovascular disease: state of the art

Virtual reality offers a multisensory experience to patients, allowing them to hear, watch, and interact in a virtual environment. Immersive virtual reality is particularly suitable for the purpose of completely isolating patients from the external environment to transport them away from the suffering related to the disease. On this state of the art, we summarize the available literature on the effectiveness of virtual reality on various physical and psychological outcomes in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Virtual reality has been employed in the cardiovascular field in various settings such as cardiac rehabilitation, interventional cardiology, and cardiac surgery. This technology offers promising opportunities to improve several outcomes related to cardiovascular disease, but further research is needed to entirely capture its benefits and to standardize the intervention.

Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Management in Cardiac Surgery and Interventional Cardiology

Pain and anxiety are common in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and percutaneous cardiac interventions. Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging non-pharmacological tool for pain and anxiety management. However, its application around cardiac procedures remains relatively unexplored. In this review, we perform a targeted non-systematic literature review to assess the current state-of-the-art of VR for pain and anxiety management in patients undergoing cardiac procedures. Contexts of interest were preprocedural, periprocedural, and postprocedural applications. Existing trials show inconsistent results. The majority of studies in the preprocedural (7 studies, n = 302), periprocedural (1 study, n = 99), and postprocedural stage (4 studies, n = 214) demonstrate significant reduction of pain and anxiety through VR distraction therapy or VR patient education. However, larger-scale trials (2 preprocedural studies [n = 233], 1 periprocedural study [n = 32], 2 postprocedural studies [n = 300]) report no effect. Current literature on effectiveness of VR for pain and anxiety management in cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology remains inconclusive.

Assessment of the Objective Effect of Virtual Reality for Preoperative Anxiety in Interventional Cardiology

The management of anxiety because of upcoming invasive coronary angiography (ICA) remains suboptimal. Previously published studies investigating the potential of virtual reality (VR) for the reduction of anxiety in ICA procedures used a subjective evaluation method. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of a VR program before ICA objectively decreases anxiety as assessed by the SD of normal to normal (SDNN). Lower SDNN is associated with worse anxiety. A total of 156 patients referred for ICA after a positive noninvasive test for coronary disease were included in the present randomized study. The interventional group benefited from the use of a VR mask in the transfer room before ICA, whereas the control group underwent the procedure as usual. In both groups, SDNN was measured before ICA. No statistical difference in SDNN was observed between the VR and control groups (45.5 ± 17.8 vs 50.6 ± 19.5, p = 0.12). The preoperative use of a VR mask for anxiolytic purposes in the setting of ICA did not result in a decrease in anxiety.

Virtual reality psychological intervention helps reduce preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting: a single-blind randomized controlled trial

Objective

This study aimed to explore the effectiveness and applicability of a psychological intervention using virtual reality (VR) to reduce preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting (CAS).

Methods

A total of 114 patients aged 18-86 years who were scheduled to undergo CAS were randomized to the VR and control groups. Patients in the VR group used a VR headset to view a 16-min psychological intervention video, while those in the control group used a tablet for viewing. The primary assessment instrument was the State Anxiety Inventory (S-AI), which was given 20 min before and after the intervention and 24 h after surgery. Secondary assessment tools were the Self-efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease (SEMCD-6) scale, which was completed before the intervention and 24 h after the operation, a smart bracelet to assess sleep quality, monitored in the evening before the operation, and the VR Suitability and Satisfaction Questionnaire, completed 24 h after the operation.

Results

The two groups were similar in terms of demographic information, preintervention STAI scores and preintervention SEMCD-6 scores (p > 0.05). S-AI scores were lower in both groups after the intervention and surgery, and the scores of the VR group were lower than those of the control group (p = 0.036, p = 0.014). SEMCD-6 scores post-surgery had improved in both groups, but the VR group had significantly higher scores than the control group (p = 0.005). Smart bracelet measurements showed no significant differences in postintervention sleep quality between the two groups (p = 0.540). For satisfaction, the VR group scored higher in all aspects except scheduling. A total of 47 (85.45%) patients reported having a comfortable experience, and only 5 (9.09%) experienced mild adverse effects.

Conclusion

The use of a virtual reality psychological intervention was beneficial to reduce the anxiety of patients before CAS and improved their self-efficacy. As virtual reality devices evolve and demonstrate better comfort and safety, more comprehensive and in-depth research of the use of VR to reduce patient anxiety should be performed in the future.Clinical trial registration:https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=186412, identifier ChiCTR2200066219.

A scoping review of metaverse in emergency medicine

BACKGROUND

Interest in the metaverse has been growing worldwide as the virtual environment provides opportunities for highly immersive and interactive experiences. Metaverse has gradually gained acceptance in the medical field with the advancement of technologies such as big data, the Internet of Things, and 5 G mobile networks. The demand for and development of metaverse are different in diverse subspecialties owing to patients with varying degrees of clinical disease. Hence, we aim to explore the application of metaverse in acute medicine by reviewing published studies and the clinical management of patients.

METHOD

Our review examined the published articles about the concept of metaverse roadmap, and four additional domains were extracted: education, prehospital and disaster medicine, diagnosis and treatment application, and administrative affairs.

RESULTS

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) integration have broad applications in education and clinical training. VR-related studies surpassed AR-related studies in the emergency medicine field. The metaverse roadmap revealed that lifelogging and mirror world are still developing fields of the metaverse.

CONCLUSION

Our findings provide insight into the features, application, development, and potential of a metaverse in emergency medicine. This study will enable emergency care systems to be better equipped to face future challenges.

Metaverse applied to musculoskeletal pathology: Orthoverse and Rehabverse

The Metaverse is 'an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds.' It incorporates digitally created realities into the real world, involves virtual copies of existing places and changes the physical reality by superimposing digital aspects, allowing its users to interact with these elements in an immersive, real-time experience. The applications of the Metaverse are numerous, with an increasing number of experiences in the field of musculoskeletal disease management. In the field of medical training, the Metaverse can help facilitate the learning experience and help develop complex clinical skills. In clinical care, the Metaverse can help clinicians perform orthopedic surgery more accurately and safely and can improve pain management, the performance of rehabilitation techniques and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. Virtualization can also optimize aspects of healthcare information and management, increasing the effectiveness of procedures and the functioning of organizations. This optimization can be especially relevant in departments that are under significant care provider pressure. However, we must not lose sight of the fundamental challenges that still need to be solved, such as ensuring patient privacy and fairness. Several studies are underway to assess the feasibility and safety of the Metaverse.

The impact of Virtual Reality on Anxiety and Functional Capacity in Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The overall utilization of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is low despite its proven benefits in secondary prevention. Virtual reality (VR), a novel method of rehabilitation, may increase overall compliance. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to synthesize evidence and report whether the addition of VR leads to an improvement in anxiety and functional capacity (FC) compared to standard CR.

METHODS

A comprehensive search strategy was used to search the online databases for the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on VR-CR. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata SE version 17.0 (College Station, TX) and RevMan5.

RESULTS

A total of 747 study participants were part of 7 studies included in the meta-analysis. Three studies were part of the narrative synthesis. Anxiety showed significant improvement in VR-CR compared to standard CR (SMD -0.32, 95% CI -0.61, -0.03). There was no significant improvement in FC between VR-CR and the standard CR (SMD 0.077, 95% CI -1.24, 1.32).

CONCLUSION

VR-CR significantly improved CR-related anxiety compared to standard CR. However, no significant improvement in FC was found in VR-CR compared to the standard CR. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of non-immersive and immersive VR on FC.

Impact of virtual reality on cardiac rehabilitation-related anxiety: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

Cardiac rehabilitation has proven beneficial in cardiovascular patients and is strongly recommended for secondary prevention after a coronary event. However, overall utilisation of cardiac rehabilitation is often low. The addition of novel methods of rehabilitation may increase overall compliance with cardiac rehabilitation. The use of virtual reality (VR) has been adopted in a variety of therapeutic ways such as physical rehabilitation in neurological diseases, rehabilitation for various psychiatric illnesses and postcancer rehabilitation in breast cancer survivors. In our meta-analysis, we wish to assess whether the addition of VR (fully immersive or non-immersive) leads to an improvement in anxiety and functional capacity compared with standard cardiac rehabilitation at any phase of the rehabilitation process.

Method and analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis protocol was structured according to the published Preferred Reporting for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis—Protocol guidelines. We will devise a search strategy to use online databases to search for the randomised controlled trials. Inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria will be defined. The articles will be reviewed by two independent reviewers and any conflict will be adjudicated through discussion. The bias in the selected studies will be assessed using Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials (RoB 2). The outcome of interest will be anxiety and functional capacity. Effect estimates will be reported as standardised mean difference with 95% CI. Fixed effect model will be used if I2<60%, otherwise random effect model will be used to estimate the effect size.

Ethics and dissemination

There will be no direct involvement of the patient or the public in the conception, design, data collection and analysis of this systematic review and meta-analysis. Results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be disseminated via journal articles. In accordance with the guidelines, our systematic review protocol is prospectively registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) on 07 August 2022.

PROSPERO ID

CRD 42022342736.