Cited by 99Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsSimulation-Based Education in HealthcareDigital Mental Health Interventions

Immersive Virtual Reality in Health Care: Systematic Review of Technology and Disease States

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Snoswell, Aaron J, Snoswell, Centaine L·2019·JMIR Biomedical Engineering

Abstract

Background: Immersive virtual reality (IVR) presents new possibilities for application in health care. Health care professionals can now immerse their patients in environments to achieve exposure to a specific scene or experience, evoke targeted emotional responses, inspire, or distract from an experience occurring in reality. Objective: This review aimed to identify patient-focused applications for head-mounted IVR for acute treatment of health conditions and determine the technical specifications of the systems used. Methods: A systematic review was conducted by searching medical and engineering peer-reviewed literature databases in 2018. The databases included PubMed, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Association for Computing Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Scopus, and Web of Science. Search terms relating to health and IVR were used. To be included, studies had to investigate the effectiveness of IVR for acute treatment of a specific health condition. IVR was defined as a head-mounted platform that provides virtual and auditory immersion for the participant and includes a minimum of 3 degrees of orientation tracking. Once identified, data were extracted from articles and aggregated in a narrative review format. Results: A total of 58 studies were conducted in 19 countries. The studies reported IVR use for 5 main clinical areas: neurological and development (n=10), pain reduction through distraction (n=20), exposure therapy for phobias (n=9), psychological applications (n=14), and others (n=5). Studies were primarily feasibility studies exploring systems and general user acceptance (n=29) and efficacy studies testing clinical effect (n=28). Conclusions: IVR has a promising future in health care, both in research and commercial realms. As many of the studies examined are still exploring the feasibility of IVR for acute treatment of health conditions, evidence for the effectiveness of IVR is still developing.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. la Paglia F, la Cascia C, Rizzo R, Sanna M, Sideli L, Francomano A, et al. Virtual reality environments to rehabilitation attention deficits in schizophrenic patients. Ann Rev Psychother Telemed 2016;14:143-148 [FREE Full text]
  2. Snoswell AJ, Snoswell CL Immersive Virtual Reality in Health Care: Systematic Review of Technology and Disease States JMIR Biomed Eng 2019;4(1):e15025 doi: 10.2196/15025

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Authors
Snoswell, A. J., & Snoswell, C. L.
Affiliations
The University of Queensland (AU)
Corresponding author
Snoswell, Aaron J
Venue
JMIR Biomedical Engineering
Published
2019-09-26
Volume
4
Issue
1
Pages
e15025
ISSN
2561-3278 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2975774002
Cited by
99
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1
FWCI
0.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • JMIR Biomedical Engineering (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
Keywords
immersive virtual reality, head-mounted displays, pain distraction, exposure therapy, phobia, neurorehabilitation, psychological intervention, acute treatment, virtual reality systems, user acceptance, clinical effectiveness

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