Environmental management education using immersive virtual reality in asthmatic children in Korea: a randomized controlled study (secondary publication)

Abstract

Purpose: Awareness of environmental control is considered a significant influence on the performance of asthma self-management behaviors, which are involved in maintaining effective asthma control. This study aimed to investigate whether immersive virtual reality (VR) education is effective in environmental control education for asthmatic children in Korea.Methods: Thirty asthmatic children aged 9 to 13 years with aeroallergen sensitization were enrolled. Environmental control education for asthmatic participants was performed using immersive VR (VR group) or conventional leaflets provided by asthma specialists (control group). Five questionnaires, on awareness of environmental control, memory, assessment of intent to act, a satisfaction test, and an asthma control test (ACT), were used to estimate the effects of education.Results: The scores for awareness of environmental control, memory, and intent to act significantly increased after education in both groups, and the scores remained high until 4 weeks after education. Both groups' ACT scores were consistently high before and 4 weeks after education. Satisfaction scores were very high in the VR group.Conclusion: The increased scores in awareness of environmental control and intent to act indicate that the environmental control education using VR is worthy of attention as an effective educational tool for asthma management. Further developed techniques, including active environmental interventions by participants in VR, could be applied to effective asthma management.

A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials on Virtual Reality Application in Pediatric Patients

“…The establishment and comparison of awareness and education among asthma patients showed an efficacious impact of immersive VR content. Additionally, the asthma control status of the experimental and control groups was compared and was informative for the participants [14]. The positive side of this review, it has included the generalizability of the study, because of the use of diverse inclusion criteria, and also involved cases from dentistry, oncology, surgeries, hematology, physiotherapy, and neurology.…”

Medical students’ self-assessed efficacy and satisfaction with training on endotracheal intubation and central venous catheterization with smart glasses in Taiwan: a non-equivalent control-group pre- and post-test study

“…1, 3, 5), medical students attending rotation of intensive care units were assigned to the control group and those attending rotation of intensive care units during even months (e.g. 2,4,6) were assigned to the smart glasses group. Medical students in the control group received demonstration and practice on the mannequin only, while those in the smart glasses group received demonstration and practice on the mannequin with smart glasses (Suppl.…”

“…There are different modalities of simulation, including virtual reality [2], augmented reality [3], or webbased video recording systems, and smart glasses (SG) are one of the simulation modalities in medical education that have drawn attention recently [4]. Smart glasses is one of the emerging technologies used in simulation-based medical education, defined as a computerized communicator, usually with a video camera, a voice recorder, a voice input interface, and a display screen [4].…”