Objective

Invasive attempts can be very painful and stressful for pediatric patients. Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to distract patients undergoing such procedures in pediatric hematology oncology patients.

Methods

A parallel trial design approach was adopted for this randomized controlled trial, guided by the CONSORT checklist. The study sample (n = 69) was divided into a VR group (n = 34) and a control group (n = 35) using stratified randomization. For the blood draw attempt, no distraction method was applied to the control group, while the children in the VR group were distracted from the procedure with the Epic Roller Coasters VR application. The primary variable assessed was pain, while secondary variables were fear and emotional appearance. The scores of emotional appearance, fear, and pain were compared with a Mann-Whitney U Test.

Results

The pre-procedure emotional appearance score was 11.3 ± 4.3 in the VR group and 11.0 ± 5.0 in the control group, and the post-procedure score was 6.5 ± 3.3 in the VR group and 11.8 ± 5.3 in the control group, indicating a difference in emotional appearance after the procedure. VR group had lower negative emotional appearance, lower pain, and lower fear scores after procedure compared to the control group.

Conclusion

VR can be considered an effective approach to reducing the negative emotional appearance and for relieving pain and fear in children aged 4–12 years undergoing blood draw procedures in pediatric hematology and oncology outpatient unit (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05675358).

中文翻译：

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虚拟现实对血液肿瘤门诊儿科患者抽血时疼痛、恐惧和情绪表现的影响：一项随机对照研究

客观的

对于儿科患者来说，侵入性尝试可能会非常痛苦和有压力。虚拟现实 (VR) 可用于分散儿童血液肿瘤患者接受此类手术的注意力。

方法

该随机对照试验采用平行试验设计方法，以 CONSORT 检查表为指导。使用分层随机化将研究样本 (n = 69) 分为 VR 组 (n = 34) 和对照组 (n = 35)。对于抽血尝试，对照组的孩子没有采用分散注意力的方法，而 VR 组的孩子则通过 Epic Roller Coasters VR 应用程序分散了对抽血过程的注意力。评估的主要变量是疼痛，次要变量是恐惧和情绪表现。将情绪表现、恐惧和疼痛的分数与曼-惠特尼U测试进行比较。

结果

VR组术前情绪表观评分为11.3±4.3，对照组为11.0±5.0；术后VR组情绪表观评分为6.5±3.3，对照组为11.8±5.3，表明存在差异。手术后的情绪表现。与对照组相比，VR 组术后的负面情绪表现、疼痛和恐惧分数较低。

结论

VR 可以被认为是减少 4-12 岁儿童在儿科血液科和肿瘤科门诊接受抽血手术时的负面情绪表现并缓解疼痛和恐惧的有效方法（ClinicalTrials.gov：NCT05675358）。