Comparison of Physical and Virtual Sensory Room in an Inpatient Setting

May 10, 2021 updated by: Vastra Gotaland Region

Sensory room is a new method in psychiatric inpatient care for management of anxiety. Since this method for anxiety management is being implemented more and more extensively within the psychiatric care system it is important to study its effect and whether there is any difference between physical and virtual sensory.

In this study, the effect on mental well-being, pulse and blood pressure will be compared before and after each use of a virtual or physically sensory room. How the different methods affect the total care time, use of anxiety medication and results from self-assessment scales to measure depression and anxiety symptoms will also be looked at. The study will be conducted on two separate wards which primarily care for patients with the primary diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

This study will include about 100 research subjects admitted to an inpatient ward at the department of psychiatry for affective disorder. The study will be conducted in two inpatient wards. Patients who consent to participation will be offered to stay in a sensory room (a physical sensory room in one ward and a virtual sensory room via a pair of wireless VR glasses in another ward). In connection with the use of the virtual or physical sensory room, the patients will be given a visual analogue scale which asks the patient to rate their overall anxiety and mental health on a scale from 1 (feeling very bad) to 10 (feeling excellent). This will be the primary measure of the study. Before and after each visit the participant will have their pulse and blood pressure measured.

Included patients will also be asked about participation in individual interviews. Semi-structured interviews will be carried out and collected data will be analyzed with a phenomenological approach. The purpose of this study is to shed light on experiences of staying in the digital and analogue sensory rooms.

A number of self-rated questionnaires will be used in the project to establish the research subjects' level of depression and anxiety during their inpatient stay.

  • The Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating (MADRS-S) scale. MADRS-S is a self-assessment tool for assessing depression symptoms, it is used regularly in the clinic to evaluate depression symptoms. The inventory consists of a self-assessment form containing 9 statements intended to measure different depression symptoms. This scale is administered at the enrollment interview if patient consents to participation and once weekly until discharge.
  • Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) is a self-assessment instrument that measures the degree of anxiety. The inventory consists of a self-assessment form containing 21 statements intended to measure 21 different anxiety symptoms. This scale is administered at the enrollment interview if patient consents to participation and once weekly until discharge.
  • The Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale. CGI is a 7-scaled evaluation tool that requires the physician to determine the degree of the patient's disease at the time of assessment, in relation to the clinician's previous experience in patients with the same diagnosis. This scale is administered at the enrollment interview if patient consents to participation and once weekly until discharge.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Gothenburg, Sweden, 41650
        • Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Admitted to one of the two eligible inpatient units
  • Age over 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of schizophrenia (ICD-10 F20) or schizoaffective disorder (ICD-10 F25)
  • Intellectual developmental disorder, organic brain injury or other condition that precludes informed consent
  • Active withdrawal symptoms from alcohol or other substances of abuse
  • Visual or balance disorder

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Physical sensory room
In the inpatient ward there is a specifically designed room for calming down which a patient can request access to. In the room there is calming music, soft mats, nature themed wallpaper and calming visual lighting.
A room with calming elements that patients can use to feel calm.
Experimental: Virtual sensory room
The patients will have access to wireless virtual reality glasses during a session. The glasses will have a specially made protection that will be disinfected between each user, all users will also have the opportunity to choose a disposable cover for the glasses. The VR glasses are adjustable and adaptable to all types of head sizes and can be used with regular glasses. The application accessable in the VR glasses is called Calm Place, a virtual natural environment with day and night cycles, dynamic weather and associated soundscapes.
A pair of virtual reality glasses (Oculus Go) with installed the program Calm Place, a program designed for anxiety reduction.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change on Visual Analogue Scale of anxiety
Time Frame: Immediately before and following the first administration of treatment
A visual analogue scale from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest) level of anxiety
Immediately before and following the first administration of treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Beck´s Anxiety Scale
Time Frame: Once weekly from date of inclusion until the date of discharge up to 3 weeks
Total score on 21 self-rated questions on anxiety (ranging from 0=no anxiety to 63=maximum level of anxiety)
Once weekly from date of inclusion until the date of discharge up to 3 weeks
Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS-S)
Time Frame: Once weekly from date of inclusion until the date of discharge up to 3 weeks
Depression grade on a self-rating scale ranging from 0=no depression to 54=most severe depression
Once weekly from date of inclusion until the date of discharge up to 3 weeks
Use of anxiolytic medication
Time Frame: Total use of medication from date of inclusion to date of discharge up to 3 weeks
Use in mg of anxiolytic medication
Total use of medication from date of inclusion to date of discharge up to 3 weeks
Clinical Global Impression
Time Frame: Once weekly from date of inclusion until the date of discharge up to 3 weeks
Clinician assessment of patient´s overall mental state ranging from 0 (no symptoms) to 7 (severe mental illness)
Once weekly from date of inclusion until the date of discharge up to 3 weeks
Length of stay
Time Frame: Length of admission in days from date of inclusion to date of discharge up to a year
Number of days admitted to inpatient care
Length of admission in days from date of inclusion to date of discharge up to a year
Blood pressure
Time Frame: Immediately before and following first administration of treatment
mmHg before and after intervention
Immediately before and following first administration of treatment
Pulse
Time Frame: Immediately before and following first administration of treatment
Heartbeats per minute before and after intervention
Immediately before and following first administration of treatment
Visual Analogue Scale of anxiety
Time Frame: An average of each immediate before and following measure of the administration of treatment
A visual analogue scale from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest) level of anxiety
An average of each immediate before and following measure of the administration of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Study Director: Steinn Steingrimsson, PhD, Sahlgrenska Academy

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 1, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 10, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 16, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

April 18, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 13, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 10, 2021

Last Verified

June 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Subscribe