Immersive Virtual Reality to Reduce Procedural Pain During IV Insertion in Children in the Emergency Department

Immersive Virtual Reality to Reduce Procedural Pain During IV Insertion in Children in the Emergency Department: A Feasibility Pilot Study

Venipuncture and intravenous (IV) access continue to be the most common causes of pain and distress among children in the pediatric emergency department. Virtual reality has been successful for reducing pain and fear in many clinical scenarios, including port access in oncology patients, anxiety disorders, phobias, burn and wound care and others. There is only one previous study examining virtual reality distraction to reduce procedural pain during IV insertion in pediatric patients and no previous studies examining this in the emergency department setting. In this study, the investigators will compare immersive virtual reality (an interactive underwater environment) to the current standard (tablet device/iPad playing a movie) for distraction to reduce procedural pain during IV insertion. The investigators hypothesize that the immersive quality of the virtual reality will reduce patient's pain scores, fear scores and tachycardia during and after the procedure, and have minimal effect on departmental flow and nursing satisfaction. If this feasibility pilot study yields positive results, the investigators plan to expand to a larger randomized control trial.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: IV Insertion in the Emergency Department
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Virtual Reality Program; Device: iPad Tablet

Detailed Description

This study is a pilot randomized control trial that aims to (a) to determine the differences in self-reported and proxy-reported pain and fear during IV insertion between the interactive VR intervention and control group, and (b) to assess the feasibility (safety, acceptability) of the VR intervention to children/families and the healthcare team in the pediatric emergency department. The study will consist of two study arms, where both study arms will be screened and recruited using the same procedure. Participants will be randomized into either (1) Control group: child life specialist plays an age-appropriate video on a tablet device, or (2) Intervention (VR Distraction): child life specialist facilitates immersive VR experience. Both the intervention and control groups will receive standard medical care (e.g., topical anesthetics). A convenience sample of 80 children and adolescents with cancer (40 participants per treatment arm; 20 boys and 20 girls per treatment arm) will be recruited. In addition to usual care, children in the experimental condition will wear the VR headset plus headphones. In the control condition, children will watch a video (i.e., an age-appropriate video selected by an emergency department affiliated child life specialist) on an iPad, while wearing the same headphones as in the experimental condition. Implementation outcomes include accrual and retention rates, acceptability and technical difficulties. Effectiveness outcomes include child pain, distress, and fear, as well as parent distress.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 58
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X8
      • Hospital for Sick Children

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 8 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion criteria will be:

1. aged 8-17 years
2. able to speak and understand English
3. parent/guardian present
4. medically stable (CTAS 2, 3, 4 or 5; IV insertion +/-20 minutes will not impact the safety of the patient according to treating medical team)
5. requires IV insertion

Exclusion criteria will be:

1. visual, auditory or cognitive impairments precluding interaction with the VR intervention or reporting pain and fear
2. psychiatric conditions that could be exacerbated by the VR environment (i.e. hallucinations)
3. skin, face or ear infections or injuries, which could contaminate the intervention equipment
4. medically unstable (CTAS 1; patient requires immediate IV insertion)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group (VR); The patient will be allowed to 'try-out' the VR system (including all auditory and visual features) for ~5 minutes prior to the start of the procedure. In addition to usual care, consisting of child-life presence and topical analgesics if ordered by the treating medical team, children in the experimental condition will wear the VR HMD plus headphones and hold the VR controller.	Device: Virtual Reality Program; VR with head mounted display (HMD) and headphones.
Active Comparator: Control Group (Standard Care - Video); The patient will be allowed to watch an age-appropriate video on a tablet device. The patient will be offered to wear the same headphones as in the experimental condition. The patient will have the tablet and headphones for ~5 minutes prior to the start of the procedure. In addition, the patient will receive standard care consisting of a child life specialist and topical analgesics (if ordered by the treating medical team).	Device: iPad Tablet; iPad with headphones

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Pain Intensity	Using an 11 point Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) (0 being no distress at all and 10 being the most distress you can imagine this child or you having) children will self-report their pain and parents, nurses and the researcher will report children's pain BOTH prior to and following the procedure.	Baseline, 30 minutes after baseline
Change in Child Distress	Using an 11 point Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) (0 being no distress at all and 10 being the most distress you can imagine this child or you having) children will self-report their distress and parents, nurses and the researcher will report children's distress BOTH prior to and following the procedure	Baseline, 30 minutes after baseline
Change in Child Fear	Children will report fear BOTH prior to and following the procedure using the Child Fear Scale (CFS) which is a 5-face visual scale that measures fear intensity and is validated in children as young as 5 years. It consists of a 1-question scale rating fear from 0 - 4, based on the faces provided. A higher number represents higher fear intensity.	Baseline, 30 minutes after baseline
Child Pain Catastrophizing	Children will report baseline tendencies to catastrophize about pain using the Pain Catastrophizing Scale - Child (PCS-C). This is a self-report measure of children's tendency to catastrophize about pain validated in children 8-18 years of age. 6-items responded to on an 11-point scale from 0 ("not at all") to 10 ("a lot"), with a higher number representing higher pain catastrophizing.	Baseline
Parent Pain Catastrophizing	Parents will report baseline tendencies to catastrophize about their child's pain using the Pain Catastrophizing Scale - Parent (PCS-P), which is a self-report measure of parents' tendency to catastrophize about their child's pain validated in parents of children 8-18 years of age. 6-items responded to on an 11-point scale from 0 ("not at all") to 10 ("a lot"), with a higher number representing higher parental pain catastrophizing of their child's pain.	Baseline
Parent Distress	Parents will report on their own level of distress following the child's procedure using the Parent Distress Questionnaire. This measure consists of 4-items responded to on an 11-point numeric rating scale from 0 ("not at all") to 10 ("extremely"). A higher number value represents higher distress levels.	30 minutes after baseline measures are completed
Child Presence Measure	This child self-report measure assesses effectiveness of the immersive aspect of the VR toolkit/iPad using 12 questions, a choice of three answers ("no", "a little", and "a lot").	30 minutes after baseline measures are completed

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Recruitment log	Using an investigator-generated recruitment log, accrual rates will be measured by counting the number eligible children per recruitment day, participants enrolled, reasons for ineligibility, reasons for non-participation and reasons for study attrition.	through study completion, an average of 1 year
Acceptability	Measured using the VR Distraction Satisfaction Questionnaire completed by children, parents and nurses and will collect data on acceptability, perceived utility of pain reducing procedures, and recommendations for changes related to the needle insertion experience.	30 minutes after baseline measures are completed
Outcome measure feasibility	Will be measured as the percentage of completed outcome measures at baseline and study completion and will be recorded on the VR Distraction Activity Log.	through study completion, an average of 1 year
Technical Difficulties Log	Using an investigator-generated technical difficulties log, researchers will record data related to technical difficulties associated with the VR intervention, observed difficulties in implementing the trial protocol in the clinic and time to complete IV needle insertion.	through study completion, an average of 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The Hospital for Sick Children

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 30, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): September 30, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 19, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 9, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): February 19, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 9, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 7, 2019
• Last Verified: October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Disease Attributes; Emergencies; Pain, Procedural
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1000058799

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No