Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Technology in Symptom Management of Patients at the end of life: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objectives: The objective of this review was to explore the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) technology in symptom management of patients at the end of life.
Design: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis, which has been registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022344679).
Setting and Participants: Patients at the end of life.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, JBI, EBSCO, CNKI, Wanfang, and SinoMed were searched from inception to July 31, 2023. Search terms included "virtual reality" and "end-of-life." Articles were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The random effects model was used to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD), and the fixed effects model was used to calculate the mean difference (MD). The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2.0 and JBI Evaluation tool were used to assess the risk of bias. The I ² statistic was used to measure heterogeneity between studies. Forest plots were used for analysis.
Results: A total of 234 patients at the end of life from 3 randomized controlled trials and 6 quasi-experimental studies were included. Compared with pre-VR intervention, the pain [standardized mean difference (SMD) -0.89, 95% CI -1.29 to -0.48, P < .05], shortness of breath [mean difference (MD) -0.98, 95% CI -0.98-0.51, P < .05], depression (MD -0.62, 95% CI -0.85 to -0.40, P < .05), and anxiety (SMD -0.93, 95% CI -1.50 to 0.36, P < .05) of patients at the end of life was significantly improved after VR intervention. However, there were no significant differences observed in tiredness, drowsiness, nausea, and lack of appetite.
Conclusions and Implications: VR technology can be effective in improving pain, shortness of breath, depression, and anxiety in patients at the end of life. For tiredness, drowsiness, nausea, and lack of appetite, further research is required.
Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)