VR could help reduce anxiety before medical procedures

Using virtual reality (VR) to explain what to expect in a medical procedure may reduce patients' anxiety, according to a new study at University Hospital Southampton (UHS).

Patients often receive a leaflet of key information before consenting to undergo treatment. This includes what will happen, risks and benefits, which they can then discuss further with their clinician.

Yet these leaflets often contain jargon, and are written in a way that goes beyond most people’s reading skills.

Around 6 in 10 adults in England are reported to struggle to understand complex medical information. This affects their ability to make a fully informed decision about whether to undergo a procedure.

The research at UHS tested the use of VR as part of the consent process for a planned procedure to treat kidney stones, known as shockwave lithotripsy. This uses high-energy sound waves to break kidney stones into smaller pieces.

The findings are being presented today at the European Association of Urology Congress in London (EAU26).

150 people aged between 22 and 80 took part in the study led by consultant urological surgeons Professor Bhaskar Somani and Dr Amelia Pietropaolo.

During the VR experience, patients stood in a virtual operating room and watched a 3D demonstration of the procedure. The experience zoomed into the kidneys to show the shockwaves and how they affect the kidney stones.

Participants could also move around the room to see the patient’s anatomy and the surgical instruments from different angles. The animation highlighted key risks and benefits.

The technology was developed by Phoebe Reynolds. She is director of the UK-based medical technology company Surgassists.

The researchers used questionnaires to compare how patients felt before and after taking part in the VR experience.

After VR, patients said they better understood what to expect from shockwave lithotripsy. They also felt less anxious about undergoing the procedure.

The impact was particularly pronounced in the oldest group of patients, aged 65 and above. There was no difference between male and female participants.

There are known links between anxiety, understanding and pain tolerance. The researchers are therefore now looking to explore whether VR consenting could also help to reduce pain for patients.

Solomon Bracey, a medical student at the University of Southampton, is presenting the research at EAU.

He said: “There is currently a mismatch between the complexity of information provided to patients and the level which most people can comprehend. This risks people consenting to procedures they don’t fully understand.

“VR has been shown to improve learning and knowledge retention, and our study suggests it could be used to help people to make more fully informed decisions about their health.

“We were also encouraged by what we saw in pain questionnaires, which gives us an important question to explore in future research.”