Three-dimensional Virtual Reality and Hands-on Aromatherapy

April 7, 2026 updated by: National Taiwan Normal University

Effectiveness of a Combination of Three-dimensional Virtual Reality and Hands-on Aromatherapy in Improving Institutionalized Older Adults' Psychological Health

A quasi-experimental trial was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of this combination in promoting happiness, perceived stress, sleep quality, experience on meditation, and life satisfaction among institutionalized older adults in Taiwan.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background: In Taiwan, which has one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world, it is becoming increasingly critical to promote successful aging strategies that are effective, easily usable, and acceptable to institutionalized older adults. Although many practitioners and professionals have explored aromatherapy and identified its positive psychological benefits, the effectiveness of a combination of 3D virtual reality and hands-on aromatherapy remains unknown.

Objectives: A quasi-experimental trial was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of this combination in promoting happiness, perceived stress, sleep quality, experience on meditation, and life satisfaction among institutionalized older adults in Taiwan.

Methods: Sixty institutionalized elderly participants underwent the combination program or were in a control group. Weekly two-hour sessions were implemented for 9 weeks. The outcome variables were happiness perceived, stress, sleep quality, experience on meditation, and life satisfaction, which were assessed at baseline, and after the intervention.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

48

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

  • Taiwan
      • Taipei, Taiwan
        • National Taiwan Normal University

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • An ability to understand verbal instructions
  • An ability to provide simple responses
  • An ability to operate a joystick freely with at least one hand

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A history of severe psychiatric conditions;
  • Dementia
  • Significant visual or hearing impairment;
  • Marked upper motor difficulties that could affect the participants' ability to participate in the study
  • Currently suffering from severe illnesses, e.g., stroke and Parkinson disease.

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: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control group
No intervention
Experimental: Experimental group
3D virtual reality and hands-on aromatherapy
Other: 3D virtual reality and hands-on aromatherapy
Participants will receive 8-session 3DVR aroma therapy activities. Each session was delivered over 2 hours once a week, and at each session, the participant received hands-on guidance for preparing an aromatherapy product that they could use for the next seven days.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Happiness
Time Frame: nine weeks
The Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI) was used to measure happiness. The OHI consists of 29 items, Each item was scored on a Likert-type scale of 1-4, with higher scores indicating a higher level of happiness.
nine weeks
Perceived stress
Time Frame: nine week
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) consists of 14 items. Each item was scored on a Likert-type scale that ranged from 0 (never) to four (very often). With higher scores indicating a higher level of stress.
nine week
Sleep quality
Time Frame: nine weeks
The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was consists of 14 items. Each item was scored on a Likert-type scale that ranged from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating a lower level of sleep quality.
nine weeks
Experience on meditation
Time Frame: nine weeks
A shortened version of the 10-item Experience on meditation (EOM-EL). Each item was scored on a Likert-type scale of 1-5, with higher scores indicating a higher level of experience on meditation.
nine weeks
Life satisfaction
Time Frame: nine weeks
This scale is a short-form version containing 10 items from the 20-item Life Satisfaction Index A (LSIA). The response options for scoring were 0 indicating "Disagree" and 1 indicating "Agree". The total raw scores ranged from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating a higher level of life satisfaction.
nine weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National Taiwan Normal University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jong-Long Guo, National Taiwan Normal University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

April 1, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 24, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 26, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

March 27, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 7, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 201903HM012

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.

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