Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Sep 28;9(12):100152.
doi: 10.1016/j.apjon.2022.100152. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Virtual reality for pain and anxiety of pediatric oncology patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Zhi Cheng  1 , Shanzhen Yu  1 , Wen Zhang  1 , Xinxin Liu  1 , Yijin Shen  1 , Hong Weng  1
Affiliations
Review

Virtual reality for pain and anxiety of pediatric oncology patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Zhi Cheng et al. Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this paper is to systematically evaluate the effects of virtual reality (VR) on pain, anxiety, and fear symptoms of pediatric patients with cancer.

Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CINAHL, and four Chinese medical databases were searched from January 1, 1975, to February 22, 2022. Randomized controlled trials on the effects of VR technology on pediatric cancer patients were searched. Two researchers independently screened literatures, extracted data, and evaluated literature quality according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, and meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3.

Results: A total of 379 children with cancer were included in six randomized controlled trials. Overall, there were significant differences in favor of VR in pain (MD ​= ​-4.82, 95% CI [-7.74, -1.89], P＜0.01; I 2 ​= ​95%, P＜0.01), anxiety (SMD ​= ​-1.47, 95% CI ​[​-2.46, -0.48], P＜0.01; I 2 ​= ​92%, P＜0.01), and fear (MD ​= ​-1.25, 95% CI [-1.78,0.72], P＜0.01; I 2 ​= ​0%, P ​= ​0.69).

Conclusions: VR is beneficial to improve the pain, anxiety, and fear mood of pediatric cancer patients. Larger sample sizes and more rigorous studies are needed.

Keywords: Pain and anxiety; Pediatric oncology patients; Systematic review; Virtual reality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA search flow diagram.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Risk of bias summary.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot for virtual reality on pain.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot for virtual reality on fear.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. De bruijn S., Anguille S., Verlooy J., et al. Dendritic cell-based and other vaccination strategies for pediatric cancer [J] Cancers. 2019;11(9) - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tobin J.L., Thomas S.M., Freyer D.R., et al. Estimating cancer treatment intensity from SEER cancer registry data: methods and implications for population-based registry studies of pediatric cancers [J] Cancer Causes Control. 2020;31(10):881–890. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Suh E., Stratton K.L., Leisenring W.M., et al. Late mortality and chronic health conditions in long-term survivors of early-adolescent and young adult cancers: a retrospective cohort analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study [J] Lancet Oncol. 2020;21(3):421–435. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Loeffen E.A.H., Mulder R.L., Font-gonzalez A., et al. Reducing pain and distress related to needle procedures in children with cancer: a clinical practice guideline [J] Eur J Cancer. 2020;131:53–67. - PubMed
    1. Gerceker G.O., Bektas M., Aydinok Y., et al. The effect of virtual reality on pain, fear, and anxiety during access of a port with huber needle in pediatric hematology-oncology patients: randomized controlled trial [J] Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2021;50:101886. - PubMed