Effect of the Format of a Video Game on Children's Experience During Venipuncture

Anxiolysis and analgesia are of paramount importance when conducting medical procedures, particularly in children. Nonpharmacologic techniques such as distraction and hypnosis improve the patient experience when used in the correct setting and may reduce the need for medications and pharmacological sedation. Virtual reality immersion is a novel approach to anxiolysis and analgesia but the content (i.e. games) available on the market are limited in their appropriateness for age, and the lack of specific design for medical procedures. VRelief, designed using a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, hypnosis practitioners, psychologists and computer scientists specializing in the Multimodal Modelling of Emotion & Feeling may present a safe and superior alternative to a similar game presented in a video tablet format, in mitigating procedural anxiety and pain and improving the patient experience during venipuncture.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pain, Procedural
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Venipuncture

Detailed Description

Pain and anxiety experienced in the acute care setting remain a major global problem, resulting in high costs for those involved as well as for health care institutions. Pain and anxiety management techniques affect the quality of the care experienced by patients, relatives, and healthcare workers. Pharmacological procedures remain the most widely used approach, although they have important limitations, such as potential for adverse effects and dosing errors, especially in the most vulnerable populations such as young children. Non-pharmacological approaches to analgesia and anxiolysis have been explored, among which placebo, expectant, distraction, positive induction, reward, self-regulation, relaxation and hypnosis. Unfortunately, translational applications have been only partially successful, due to the limited and variable effectiveness of each approach, which often requires active and continuous patient cooperation. Hypnosis is an effective but incomplete approach that requires the presence of a specialist and can only be practiced from a certain age.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a promising technology that combines all of these methods above into an immersive and engaging tool for pain and anxiety relief that could equal or exceed the effectiveness of other existing non-pharmacological techniques. In addition, it is relatively inexpensive and provides a relevant alternative when hypnosis practitioners are not available.

The virtual reality contents (hereon ''games'') available on the market are varied. However, these tools are mainly based on distraction and often do not take into account the therapeutic communication and hypnosis principles proven useful in managing anxious children, as well as other psychological factors facilitating, for example, the "empowerment" of patients. Moreover, the quality of immersion in a virtual environment is essential for its effectiveness, and the tools currently available remain limited in this respect (mini-games, 360-degree video). Moreover, these tools have little external control and even fewer intelligent mechanisms to adapt content to the patient experience.

The investigators developed a prototype VR tool, which, unlike tools from other clinical studies of virtual reality, implemented a narration integrating several properties of hypnosis induction (in particular relaxation and regulation) with a gameplay designed to induce distraction and empowerment. The game was developed with the objective of engaging the child in an environment where he or she is first familiarized and reassured, then engaged in the missions of the game, and finally rewarded, all with the intent of decreasing anxiety and pain during a procedure. The investigators have carefully adapted the initial versions of this VR scenario to young, hospitalized children (starting from the age of 5 years of age) undergoing painful and anxiogenic procedures such as venipuncture. This population is ideal for our needs because they are often resistant to other non-pharmacological techniques (hypnosis susceptibility peaks between 8 and 12 years and, at the same time, have a good knowledge of artificial environments and computer games. A pilot study conducted in our department showed that children who played the VR game rated their pain and anxiety less high than children who received standard of care, during venipuncture. Venipuncture is some of the most common procedures in pediatric emergency departments and one of the most common sources of unrelieved pain and anxiety in hospitalized children.

To date, no study has attempted to isolate the added value of VR by comparing it with a similar game offered in a format such as a video tablet (ie.g.: iPad, etc.).

When used in a correct subset of patients (excluding patients with light-sensitive epilepsy), there are no risks anticipated aside from potential mild nausea or dizziness, which is rarely described in children using virtual reality, which would make this study a risk category A study.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Geneva, Switzerland, 1205
    • Geneva University Hospitals

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 5 years to 12 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

- Children 5-12 undergoing a venipuncture as part of the Corona Immunitas Covid serology study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parents prefer their child not to use screens
• Known or suspected light-sensitive epilepsy
• Moderate or severe intellectual disability
• Physical factors preventing placement of the VR headset (e.g.: wound on the face, etc.)
• Inability to understand or follow the procedures of the study due to a language barrie

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Video game in Virtual reality; The study subject will be playing a video game during the venipuncture, in virtual reality	Diagnostic test: Venipuncture; Diagnostic venipuncture
Active Comparator: Video game on a tablet; The study subject will be playing a video game during the venipuncture, on a tablet	Diagnostic test: Venipuncture; Diagnostic venipuncture

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Child rating of maximum pain	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture
Child rating of time spent thinking about pain	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture
Child rating of anxiety	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture
"Fun" rating	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture
Parental rating of satisfaction	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Child rating of venipuncture unpleasantness	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture
Heart rate change during the venipuncture compared to the start of the procedure	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	baseline, during the intervention, immediately after the intervention and 5 minutes later
Number of persons required for physical and pharmacological restraint of children during these procedures	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture
Feeling of immersion into the game	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture
Parental anxiety	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture
Healthcare worker rating of satisfaction	Visual Analog Scale rating of minimum 0 (least amount) and maximum 10 (most amount)	during venipuncture

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Geneva
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Cyril Sahyoun, MD, University Hospital, Geneva

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 21, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 3, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): July 6, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 13, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 28, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): October 4, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 9, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 8, 2022
• Last Verified: November 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Hypnosis; Virtual Reality; Behavioral intervention; Venipuncture
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Pain, Procedural
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2021-00979

Drug and device information, study documents

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