Effect Of Virtual Reality on Pre-Operative Children`s Anxiety

Abstract

Background: Surgery in children is a challenging and stressful event. Preoperative anxiety is a potential threat for children and has negative consequences on children. Virtual reality may help children to reduce their anxiety through divert their attention. Purpose: to determine the effect of virtual reality on pre-operative children`s anxiety. Design: A Quasi-experimental research design was used to accomplish this study. Settings: The study was conducted at Surgical Unit (SU) in Alexandria University Children's Hospital (AUCH) at El-Shatby. Sampling: A convenience sampling of 60 children was included in the study. Instrument: One instrument was used for data collection namely; Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (YPAS). Characteristics and medical history of the children's assessment sheet was attached with the main instrument. Results: Children in the study group had lower mean (38.69±5.23) indicators of anxiety level than control group (81.72±6.52) during the second assessment (post intervention). Therefore, there were very highly statistically significant differences (P<0.001). Conclusion: it can be concluded that virtual reality applications had a valuable effect on reducing children's preoperative anxiety. Recommendations: Nurses should use virtual reality in their routine care for children undergoing surgery.