VR for the Reduction of Perioperative Anxiety

May 29, 2024 updated by: Günther Rezniczek, Ruhr University of Bochum

Assessment and Minimization of Preoperative Fear of the Unknown Using a VR Experience of the Theatre Suite; a Randomized Control Trial

The study, set to take place at Gold Coast University Hospital in Australia, will be conducted as a randomized controlled trial. Patients preparing for gynecological cancer surgery will be recruited and randomly assigned to one of two groups: those who will receive standard care plus a virtual reality (VR) intervention, and those who will receive only standard care. Standard care encompasses the usual pre-operative procedures and support provided by the hospital staff.

We hypothesize that immersing patients in a preparatory virtual environment that shows them what they are to expect during their upcoming hospital stay for surgery, could help reduce their anxiety levels.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study objective is to determine whether exposure to the operating theatre suite via virtual reality (VR) for patients undergoing gynecologic-oncological surgery reduces pre-operative anxiety.

After patients are recruited, their anxiety level is measured by a simple 6-item visual anxiety scale (T0). Patients are then randomized into either receiving care-as-usual (CAU), or CAU combined with a VR experience (~3.5 minutes; with background music and narration) where they are familiarized with the environment they will encounter during their stay for their cancer operation. Anxiety is measured again (T1). Days/weeks later, when patients are back in the hospital for their surgery (T2), anxiety is measured again in the preanesthetic bay, before receiving any anesthetics. Personnel collecting the anxiety scale at T2 will be unaware whether a patient had received the VR intervention or not.

Randomization will be performed by a person unrelated to the study by using a computerized randomization tool to generate an allocation list and inserting paper slips with the group allocation into consecutively numbered, opaque envelopes which are opened, in order, at the time of randomization.

Using a two-sided Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test and targeting a power of 80% at a significance level α of 0.05, abd assuming a clinically relevant difference in the anxiety scale of at least one "face" (i.e. at least 1 point on the 6-item scale) between the two groups and a within-group standard deviation of 1.6 (effect size: 0.625), sample size was determined as 34 patients per group for a 1:1 group allocation. Assuming a drop out/lost-to-follow up rate of up to 15%, 80 patients (40 per group) are to be recruited.

Descriptive statistic analysis will be performed. Within-group and between-group assessements will be done using Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Mann-Whitney rank sum test, respectively.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

80

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

  • Australia
    • Queensland
      • Southport, Queensland, Australia, 4215
        • Gold Coast 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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Gynecological oncology patients with scheduled surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Language barrier
  • Inability to provide consent
  • Having undergone any procedure at the operating theatre in the previous 5 years

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Virtual reality
Care-as-usual + virtual reality intervention during a pre-operative visit
Other: Virtual reality experience
An immersive VR experience, delivered using a VR head-mounted display, of the real-world environment at the hospital, featuring the pre-operative admission suite, pre-anesthetic bay, operating theatre, postoperative recovery room, and medical staff.
No Intervention: Control
Care-as-usual during a pre-operative visit

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Anxiety
Time Frame: T0 (before randomization), T1 (same day as T0, but after care as usual +/- VR; usually inside 1 hour), T2 (days/weeks later, before surgical procedure - exact gap is unknown; expected: >3 days, median around 4-7 weeks)
Anxiety level measured by a 6-item visual scale (1 .. least anxiety, 6 ... highest anxiety)
T0 (before randomization), T1 (same day as T0, but after care as usual +/- VR; usually inside 1 hour), T2 (days/weeks later, before surgical procedure - exact gap is unknown; expected: >3 days, median around 4-7 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Ruhr University of Bochum

Collaborators

Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Bernd C Schmid, MD, Gold Coast University Hospital

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)

May 10, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 4, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

February 4, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 26, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 30, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

May 1, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 31, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 29, 2024

Last Verified

May 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • VRPERIOP1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified data will be shared upon reasonable request for purposes that have been approved by the respective Institutional Review Board

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After publication

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Reasonable request; approval of intended use by an Institutional Review Board

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ICF

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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