Table 4.
Summary of physiological measures and side effects of studies in this review.
| Study | Outcome measures | Measurement tools | Results |
| Frey et al [28] | Nausea; side effects |
Questionnaire | No adverse effects reported. No significant differences in occurrences of nausea between VRa and control. |
| Gershon et al [30] | Physiology | Heart rate | Significant reduction in physiological parameters (heart rate) observed in VR group vs non-VR group vs that of the control during procedure (96.3 vs 103.8 vs 110.3 beats per minute, P<.05). |
| Gold et al [32] | Side effects | Likert scale (scale 1-6) | 5.2% (n=4) of patients reported nausea, and 8% reported simulator sickness. |
| Hoffman et al [18] | Nausea | GRSb | Nausea ratings were negligible. |
| Mosso-Vasquez et al [17] | Side effects; physiology | Questionnaire; heart rate; mean arterial pressure; respiration rate; SpO2c | Change in pain scores (postprocedure – preprocedure) was minimally correlated with heart rate (R2=0.05), mean arterial pressure (R2=0.09), and SpO2 (R2=0.00). 37.3% (25/67) of patients had reduced heart rate after VR therapy. 52.2% (35/67) of patients had reduced mean arterial pressure after VR therapy. 64% (14/22) of patients had reduced respiratory rate after VR therapy. None of these data were tested for statistical significance. 4.5% experienced side effects. |
| Mosso-Vasquez et al [34] | Physiology | Blood pressure | No significant change in systolic or diastolic blood pressure with VR use. |
| Nilsson et al [19] | Physiology | Heart rate | No statistically significant difference in heart rate between VR and control group. |
| Tashjian et al [37] | Physiology; side effects |
Questionnaire; blood pressure; heart rate | No adverse side effects reported. No statistically significant differences between systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate pre- and post-VR (P>.05). |
| Walker et al [38] | Physiology; side effects | Questionnaire; heart rate; respiration rate; blood pressure; galvanic skin response | No significant difference between vital signs or galvanic skin response detected. No descriptive data provided. No side effects reported. |
| Yun Hua et al [39] | Physiology | Heart rate; SpO2 | Significantly lower heart rate was observed in the VR group compared to the control group (98.88 SD 11.57 vs 106.2 SD 11.45 beats per minute, P<.05). No difference in SpO2. |
aVR: virtual reality.
bGRS: graphic rating scale.
cSpO2: oxygen saturation.