The effect of virtual reality on Children's anxiety, fear, and pain levels before circumcision

Abstract

Background: Circumcision is one of the oldest and most frequently performed surgical interventions in many societies across the world. Boys undergoing this procedure experience anxiety and fear during the preoperative period. In addition, postoperative pain in children is reported to be associated with anxiety and fear.

Aim: This study aimed to examine the effects of using virtual reality (VR) intervention before circumcision on the pre-and postoperative anxiety and fear levels and postoperative pain symptoms in children.

Material and methods: This randomized controlled experimental study included 5-10-year-old boys referred to a pediatric hospital for circumcision between June and September 2019. Randomization was performed using the randomized block design, and the subjects were divided into control (n = 38) and experimental (n = 40) groups. The data were collected using a participant information form, the children's fear scale (CFS), the children's anxiety meter scale (CAM-S), and the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale (WBS); data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 package program.

Results: Of the children included in the study, 59% were between the ages of five and six years and 78.2% had no previous hospital experience. Children in the experimental group had significantly lower mean scores of CAM-S and CFS in the pre-and postoperative periods than those in the control group. Also, the mean postoperative WBS score was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group.

Discussion: Results of this study were similar to those reported previously that VR interventions were effective in reducing fear and anxiety in the preoperative period (Dehghan et al., 2019, Ryu et al., 2018; Olbrechta et al., 2020). Previous studies have shown that patient immersion in interactive VR provides a distraction from painful stimuli and can decrease an individual's perception of the pain (Pouarmand et al., 2018; Chad et al., 2018).

Conclusion: Distracting children using a VR intervention before circumcision decreased their anxiety and fear both before and after the surgery, and it was found that the pain symptoms were lower in the postoperative period.

Keywords: Anxiety; Child; Circumcision; Fear; Pain; Virtual reality.