Interventional effect of virtual reality on cancer patients:a Meta-analysis
Objective To evaluate the interventional effects of virtual reality(VR)on cancer patients in pain,anxiety,cognitive function,upper limb function and quality of life.Methods Randomised controlled trials(RCTs)using VR technology on cancer patients were retrieved from databases of CNKI,Wanfang Database,SinoMed,VIP,PubMed,Web of Science,Embase,PsycINFO and Cochrane Library,from the inception of the databases to March 2023.Two reviewers independently examined and screened the literatures,followed by evaluation of the quality and extraction of relevant themes.Meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan 5.3 to analyse the acquired data.Results A total of 9 RCTs involving 727 patients were included.The meta-analysis demonstrated that VR technology alleviated pain intensity in cancer patients[SMD=-1.31,95%CI(-1.96 to-0.66),P<0.001],relieved anxiety[SMD=-0.96,95%CI(-1.62 to-0.31),P=0.004],improved cognitive function[SMD=3.37,95%CI(1.74 to 5.00),P<0.001],and improved quality of life of cancer patients[SMD=0.67,95%CI(0.38 to 0.96),P<0.001].However,it posed unclear effect on upper limb function[SMD=-0.57,95%CI(-1.40 to 0.26),P=0.18].Conclusion VR technology shows potentials in alleviation of pain,reduction of anxiety and improvement of cognitive function and the quality of life in cancer patients,but it remains uncertain effect on upper limb function.However,due to heterogeneity in some of the results,more high-quality studies are required to validate the interventional effects of VR technology on cancer patients.
virtual realitycancer patientspaincognitive functionquality of lifeMeta-analysis