Effect of virtual reality application on preoperative anxiety level among children undergoing surgery

Abstract

Background: Children who undergo surgical operations may experience preoperative anxiety and they needed to both physical and psychological preparation. The aim: the study aimed to determine the effect of virtual reality application on preoperative anxiety levels among children undergoing surgery. Subject and Methods: Design: A quasi-experimental research design was utilized to achieve the study's aim. Setting: The study was applied in the General Pediatric Surgical Unit at Sohag University Hospital. Sample: A purposive sample of 100 children aged from 4-8 years was included, randomly assigned equally into a study and control group (The study group involved 50 children, who used virtual reality technology and 50 children in the control group using routine care only. Two tools were used to collect data: (I) Interview Structured Questionnaire developed by the researchers and (II) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Results: The study result showed that preoperative anxiety scores were lower among children after the virtual reality application than among children in the control group. There were highly statistically significant differences detected between the total mean score of anxiety scores in the pretest and posttest before surgery (P=0.000).