Comparison of hemodynamic responses between conventional and virtual reality therapies in patients with heart failure admitted to an emergency room

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate and to compare the acute response, due to semi-immersive virtual reality (VR) and conventional therapies (CT), of hemodynamic parameters in hospitalized individuals admitted to an emergency unity for heart failure (HF). This is a viability study with 11 individuals subjected to sessions with and without VR. At CT, stretching, active or active-assisted exercises, and fractional inspiration were performed. In VR therapy (VRT), VR box glasses were used to promote VR relaxation associated with CT. The hemodynamic parameters evaluated were heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and double product. To analyze them, Student’s t- and Mann Whitney tests were used (p<0.05). Comparing baseline and final evaluations showed no significant differences in the hemodynamic parameters of both groups (p>0.05). Comparing absolute variations between CT and VRT also produced no significant differences between hemodynamic responses (p>0.05). Results showed that administering VRT and CT promoted physiological changes in the responses of hemodynamic parameters in individuals with HF hospitalized in an emergency unit without significant differences between the two interventions. This study suggests that VRT is a hemodynamically safe method for treating patients in emergency units.