The use of pre-operative virtual reality to reduce anxiety in women undergoing gynecological surgeries: a prospective cohort study

BMC Anesthesiology

Rehena Sultana¹  Ban Leong Sng²  Chin Wen Tan²  Jason Ju In Chan²  Alex Tiong Heng Sia²  Hwei Min Kee³  Cheng Teng Yeam⁴ 

[1] Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore City, Singapore;Department of Women’s Anesthesia, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road Singapore, 229899, Singapore City, Singapore;Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road Singapore, 169857, Singapore City, Singapore;Division of Nursing, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore City, Singapore;Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road Singapore, 169857, Singapore City, Singapore;

关键词: Virtual reality;    Preoperative anxiety;    Patient satisfaction;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12871-020-01177-6

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPre-operative anxiety is common and is associated with negative surgical outcomes. Virtual reality (VR) is a promising new technology that offers opportunities to modulate patient experience and cognition and has been shown to be associated with lower levels of anxiety. In this study, we investigated changes in pre-operative anxiety levels before and after using VR in patients undergoing minor gynecological surgery.MethodsPatients who underwent elective minor gynecological surgeries in KK Women’s and Children’s hospital, Singapore were recruited. The VR intervention consisted of 10-min exposure via a headset loaded with sceneries, background meditation music and breathing exercises. For the primary outcome of pre-operative anxiety, patients were assessed at pre- and post-intervention using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Secondary outcomes of self-reported satisfaction scores and EuroQol 5-dimension 3-level (EQ-5D-3L) were also collected.ResultsData analysis from 108 patients revealed that HADS anxiety scores were significantly reduced from 7.2 ± 3.3 pre-intervention to 4.6 ± 3.0 post-intervention (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, HADS depression scores were significantly reduced from 4.7 ± 3.3 pre-intervention to 2.9 ± 2.5 post-intervention (p < 0.0001). Eighty-two percent of the patients self-reported VR intervention as ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’. EQ-5D-3L showed significant changes in dimensions of ‘usual activities’ (p = 0.025), ‘pain/discomfort’ (p = 0.008) and ‘anxiety/ depression’ (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsFor patients undergoing minor gynecological procedures, the VR intervention brought about a significant reduction in pre-operative anxiety. This finding may be clinically important to benefit patients with high pre-operative anxiety without the use of anxiolytics.Trial registrationThis study was registered on clinicaltrials.gov registry (NCT03685422) on 26 Sep 2018.

【 授权许可】

CC BY