JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Interest in sensory rooms or so-called "calm rooms" in psychiatric inpatient care has increased significantly, the purpose of which is to introduce a relaxing environment to increase well-being and decrease anxiety and aggressive behaviors while in a hospital setting. Recent developments in virtual reality (VR) relaxation have made virtual calm rooms possible, which have not yet been evaluated in psychiatric inpatient care.

Objective:

To compare the effects of VR relaxation and a physical sensory room on self-reported well-being and physiological markers of arousal.

Methods:

This study relied on quasi-randomized allocation of patients to a ward with either a physical calm room or a virtual one. Outcomes included blood pressure, heart rate, and self-reported well-being before and after using one of the two interventions during their stay in psychiatric inpatient care.

Results:

A total of 60 participants were included: 40 used a VR relaxation room and 20 a physical sensory room. The average age of participants was 39 years and the majority were women (58%). Analysis showed improved well-being at the group level from before to after the intervention (P<.05), with no statistically significant difference in effects between the two different interventions.

Conclusions:

Although power in the current study was low, findings of this first comparison of the calming effects of VR relaxation vs a visit to a physical calm room, suggest that VR relaxation appears to be a viable alternative when having a physical calm room is not an option, for logistic or other reasons. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03918954;