VR Distraction for pain management in wound care: prospective observational study
This study aims to evaluate digital patient experiences of using VR distraction (https://www.syncvrmedical.com/) in wound care to further improve care quality. Researchers (https://www.tudelft.nl/io/over-io/personen/wang-t) from Delft University of Technology and Erasmus MC conducted a prospective observational study in clinical settings. Here is an introduction video in Dutch ( https://we.tl/t-79rU0udWHF).
A step-by-step evaluation process was presented as below:
Supplement
Step-by-step
Why to measure?
Two evaluation objectives were clarified at the beginning: one is to support designers and developers in improving the design, development, and implementation of VR distraction in wound care, and the second is to inform patients and healtchare providers about the benefits of using VR distraction in wound care to achieve evidence-based clinical usage and increase adoption and uptake.
When to measure?
In this case, VR glasses and contents have already been developed and used in some clinical settings. Therefore, the research team chose to focus on evaluating the effectiveness and implementation stages. Participants were asked to report their perceptions and experiences before and after their wound care, with or without VR distraction. Their momentary data was collected before, during, or immediately after the wound care.
What to measure?
The research team selected a variety of variables to assess. Some were behavioral determinants, such as technology acceptance and intention to use, used for formative assessment. Some were emotional, perceptual, behavioral, and clinical outcomes, such as overall satisfaction, perceived usefulness, actual use, and pain outcomes, used for summative assessment.
How to measure?
According to the overall objectives and related resources, the research team chose a prospective before-and-after observational study as the final study design. They used adjusted questionnaires as data collection methods to collect quantitative data from patients, and they performed quantitative analysis, which was statistical analysis, in SPSS to analyze the data.
They will report their results to designers and developers to inform their future design, development, and implementation of VR distraction in wound care. They will suggest to certain patients and healthcare providers whether to use VR distraction in wound care based on the research findings. To conclude, they planned to submit their evaluation results to high-quality journals to provide both theoretical and practical implications for a wider community in this area.