The Effect of Using Virtual Reality During Burn Dressing on Pain, Anxiety and Fear Felt in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract This study was conducted to determine the effect of using virtual reality (VR) during burn dressing on the level of fear, anxiety, and pain that children would experience. This randomized controlled trial was conducted in a pretest-posttest design. Randomization of the participants (n = 65) was performed with the block randomization method. Then, 33 children were included in the intervention and 32 children in the control group with simple sequential randomization. The study data were collected using the “Family and Child Personal Information Form,” “Physiological Parameters Registration Form,” “Wong–Baker Faces Pain Scale,” “Children’s Fear Scale,” and “Children’s Anxiety Meter-State.” The chi-square test, t-test, Shapiro–Wilk, mean, and percentile distributions were used for the data analysis. After dressing, the physiological parameters of the children who used VR were found to be within normal limits (HR: 108.48 ± 12.43, O2: 98.39 ± 1.14) compared to the children who did not use (HR: 117.38 ± 15.25, O2: 97.81 ± 1.35) (P < .05). After the dressing, children using VR (0.85 ± 1.23) were determined to have less fear than those who did not use them (3.03 ± 1.06), and similarly, children who used VR (2.64 ± 2.73) experienced less anxiety than those who did not use them (5.84 ± 2.26). When the pain levels were evaluated, the VR group (1.79 ± 2.04) was reported to feel less pain compared to the control group (5.50 ± 2.36). The VR used by children aged 5-10 years during burn dressing has been found to affect their physiological parameters and is effective in reducing fear, anxiety, and pain levels.