Tepe Ayşin, Dönmez Elif, Ortabağ Tülay
Marmara University Training and Research Hospital, Clinical Nurse, Istanbul, Turkey.
Department of Oncology Nursing, University of Health Sciences Hamidiye Faculty of Nursing, Istanbul, Turkey.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2025 Aug 8;104(32):e43487. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000043487.
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) applications in managing pain among cancer patients. Pain is a prevalent symptom in oncology and significantly impacts patients' quality of life. VR, as a non-pharmacological intervention, distracts attention and provides immersive environments, making it a promising approach to alleviate pain. This systematic review synthesizes evidence from studies conducted between 2014 and 2024 to assess VR's impact on pain management and its implications for clinical practice.
A systematic literature review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched via specific Medical Subject Headings terms. Studies were included if they were experimental or quasi-experimental, published in English, and accessible in full text. The population was composed of cancer patients, and the intervention was VR-based. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by 2 researchers using Joanna Briggs Institute tools. From an initial pool of 497 studies, 22 met the inclusion criteria, including 10 randomized controlled trials and 12 quasi-experimental studies.
The included studies included 925 participants aged 6 to 85 years, representing various cancer types, such as breast, colorectal, and hematological malignancies. VR interventions were associated with significant pain reduction in 13 studies, while 6 studies reported no meaningful differences, and 1 study noted a slight adverse effect. The participants frequently reported enhanced satisfaction and emotional well-being, describing the VR experience as relaxing and distracting. Despite mild side effects such as nausea or dizziness, VR was generally well tolerated.
VR has considerable potential as a complementary method for pain management in oncology. While it shows promise in improving patient experiences and reducing pain, further robust, large-scale studies are needed to validate its clinical effectiveness and optimize its use. These findings encourage healthcare professionals to explore VR as a holistic tool in cancer care.
本研究旨在评估虚拟现实（VR）应用在管理癌症患者疼痛方面的有效性。疼痛是肿瘤学中一种普遍存在的症状，会对患者的生活质量产生重大影响。VR作为一种非药物干预手段，能够分散注意力并提供沉浸式环境，使其成为缓解疼痛的一种有前景的方法。本系统评价综合了2014年至2024年间开展的研究证据，以评估VR对疼痛管理的影响及其对临床实践的意义。
按照系统评价和Meta分析的首选报告项目指南进行系统文献综述。通过特定的医学主题词在PubMed、科学网和Cochrane数据库中进行检索。纳入的研究需为实验性或准实验性研究，以英文发表且可获取全文。研究对象为癌症患者，干预措施基于VR。由2名研究人员使用乔安娜·布里格斯研究所的工具独立进行数据提取和质量评估。从最初的497项研究中，有22项符合纳入标准，包括10项随机对照试验和12项准实验性研究。
纳入的研究包括925名年龄在6至85岁之间的参与者，代表了各种癌症类型，如乳腺癌、结直肠癌和血液系统恶性肿瘤。在13项研究中，VR干预与疼痛显著减轻相关，而6项研究报告无显著差异，1项研究指出有轻微不良反应。参与者经常报告满意度和情绪幸福感有所提高，将VR体验描述为放松和分散注意力。尽管有恶心或头晕等轻微副作用，但VR总体耐受性良好。
VR作为肿瘤学疼痛管理的辅助方法具有相当大的潜力。虽然它在改善患者体验和减轻疼痛方面显示出前景，但需要进一步开展有力的大规模研究来验证其临床有效性并优化其使用。这些发现鼓励医疗保健专业人员将VR作为癌症护理中的一种整体工具进行探索。
