Needle phobia is one of the most
common fears among children who receive vaccines and they are exposed to
needles on numerous occasions throughout their childhood. This causes many
children fear, anxiety and pain. In some cases, needle phobia and needle anxiety
may even cause parents to delay scheduled visits with the doctor. A
pediatrician has come up with an innovative solution to distract children from
their fear, anxiety and pain using a virtual reality headset. He is the first
to conduct a pilot study, published in the journal Pain Management, using this
technique in a pediatric setting. He got the idea for the study from an
8-year-old patient who came to his office with a virtual reality headset. The
child placed the goggles on his head as Rudnick proceeded to give him an
injection. Much to Rudnick's delight, the child didn't even flinch.
The objective of this study was
to test the feasibility, efficiency and usefulness of using virtual reality
headsets as a means to decrease fear and pain associated with immunizations in
pediatric patients. The study focused on fear and pain, both anticipated and
actual as reported by the child and their caregiver. For the study, researchers
used a 3D virtual reality headset and a smartphone app that was inserted into
the goggles giving the children the choice of a roller coaster ride, a
helicopter ride or a hot-air balloon ride. Once the virtual reality headset was
in place, they administered a single injection with the headset on until after
the immunization was completed in about 30 seconds. Study participants ages 6
to 17 completed a pre- and post-questionnaire evaluating fear using the McMurty
Children's Fear Scale and the Wong-Baker pain scale.
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