Utilization of virtual reality to diminish preprocedural anxiety in patients undergoing cardiac interventions: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: Patients undergoing cardiac intervention often experience high levels of anxiety, whether related to the procedure itself, uncertainty about the results, or the stressful clinic atmosphere. This can impact the patient's physiological and psychological well-being. The role of nurses is very important in overcoming preprocedural anxiety levels, one of which is by utilizing virtual reality (VR) technology as an educational medium and non-pharmacological therapy in overcoming anxiety.

Purpose: To analyze the effect of utilization of virtual reality to diminish preprocedural anxiety in patients undergoing cardiac interventions.

Method: This research uses a systematic review approach, which focuses on utilization of virtual reality to diminish preprocedural anxiety in patients undergoing cardiac interventions. The researcher adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for the selection and assessment of research articles. Articles were sourced from databases such as EMBASE, ClinicalKey Nursing, Springer Link, Science Direct and Scopus, covering publications from 2013 to 2023.

Results: The literature search found 7 articles that were eligible to be research subjects. According to the findings from the reviewed articles, there are significant effect on anxiety level between patients who received VR therapy compared to other groups. The VR content used is in the form of images of cardiac intervention procedures or natural views as relaxation therapy. This analysis suggests that VR interventions can be used to reduce anxiety in patients undergoing cardiac intervention.

Conclusion: The use of virtual reality as an preprocedural education or as a guided imagination relaxation therapy can be given before the patient undergoing a cardiac intervention procedure.