The efficacy of virtual reality in the treatment of binge‐purging eating disorders: A meta‐analysis
Abstract
Objective: This paper aims to examine the efficacy of virtual reality (VR)‐enhanced cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in the treatment of binge‐purging type eating disorders compared to CBT. Method: Four electronic literature databases were searched to retrieve eligible randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses was used to select eligible studies. Meta‐analyses of extracted data were then conducted by RevMan 5.3 software. Results: Six RCTs totalling 297 participants were included. Results showed significantly larger decreases in the frequency of binges in participants who underwent VR‐enhanced CBT compared to CBT. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the change in body mass index or frequency of purges. Additionally, there were significantly larger decreases in situation‐induced body dissatisfaction in participants who underwent VR‐enhanced CBT compared to CBT, but no significant difference in improvement of overall body satisfaction. Conclusion: VR‐enhanced CBT shows greater efficacy than CBT in reducing situation‐induced body dissatisfaction and frequency of binges. Our results highlight the potential of VR in helping patients develop coping strategies to food/situational triggers. Future RCTs may benefit from recruiting more participants to reduce the impact of drop‐outs on outcome data and blinding post‐intervention assessors to reduce risk of bias.
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A growing number of studies report effectiveness of chatbots in reducing abnormal eating behavior.
“and abnormal eating behavior [26]”
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- Authors
- Low, T. L., Ho, R., Ho, C., & Tam, W.
- Affiliations
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- National University Health System (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Ho, Roger
- Venue
- European Eating Disorders Review
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-11-12
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 52-59
- ISSN
- 1072-4133 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0968
- OpenAlex
- W3105303187
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9
- FWCI
- 2.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Eating Disorders Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Rare & Special e-Zone (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- virtual reality, cognitive behavioral therapy, binge frequency, body dissatisfaction, body mass index, purging, treatment efficacy, dietary triggers
- MeSH terms
- Virtual Reality, Adaptation, Psychological, Humans, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Body Mass Index, Binge-Eating Disorder
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