Effect of virtual reality distraction on pain among patients with hand injury undergoing dressing change. Issue 1 (4th June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Guo, Chunlan; Deng, Hongyan; Yang, Jian
• Is Part Of: Journal of clinical nursing. Volume 24:Issue 1/2(2015)
• Page Start: 115
• Page End: 120
• Publication Date: 2014-06-04
• Subjects: Nursing -- Periodicals; Clinical medicine -- Periodicals; 610.7305
• DOI: 10.1111/jocn.12626
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0962-1067

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="jocn12626-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="jocn12626-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Aims and objectives</title> <p>To assess the effect of virtual reality distraction on pain among patients with a hand injury undergoing a dressing change.</p> </sec> <sec id="jocn12626-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Virtual reality distraction can effectively alleviate pain among patients undergoing a dressing change. Clinical research has not addressed pain control during a dressing change.</p> </sec> <sec id="jocn12626-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Design</title> <p>A randomised controlled trial was performed.</p> </sec> <sec id="jocn12626-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>In the first dressing change sequence, 98 patients were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group, with 49 cases in each group. Pain levels were compared between the two groups before and after the dressing change using a visual analog scale. The sense of involvement in virtual environments was measured using the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, which determined the relationship between the sense of involvement and pain level.</p> </sec> <sec id="jocn12626-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>The difference in visual analog scale scores between the two groups before the dressing change was not statistically significant (<italic>t</italic> = 0·196, <italic>p </italic>><italic> </italic>0·05), but the scores became statistically significant after the dressing change (<italic>t</italic> = −30·792, <italic>p </italic><<italic> </italic>0·01). The correlation between the sense of involvement in a virtual environment and pain level during the dressing was statistically significant (<italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup> = 0·5538, <italic>p </italic><<italic> </italic>0·05).</p> </sec> <sec id="jocn12626-sec-0006" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>Virtual reality distraction can effectively alleviate pain among patients with a hand injury undergoing a dressing change. Better results can be obtained by increasing the sense of involvement in a virtual environment.</p> </sec> <sec id="jocn12626-sec-0007" sec-type="section"> <title>Relevance to clinical practice</title> <p>Virtual reality distraction can effectively relieve pain without side effects and is not reliant on a doctor's prescription. This tool is convenient for nurses to use, especially when analgesics are unavailable.</p> </sec> </abstract>