Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Oct 13, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Oct 28, 2024 - Dec 23, 2024
Date Accepted: Feb 25, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The effectiveness of virtual reality technology interventions on cognitive function, depression, and quality of life in clinical populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
ABSTRACT
Background:
Virtual reality technology has garnered extensive utilization within the domain of cognitive rehabilitation and has shown promise in ameliorating mental health conditions and augmenting the quality of life for clinical populations, but the research results are inconsistent, and the overall effectiveness is inconclusive.
Objective:
We aimed to assess virtual reality interventions' impact on cognitive function, depression, and quality of life in clinical populations.
Methods:
An exhaustive search was systematically performed across multiple databases, including EMBASE, PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, spanning from their commencement until July 2023. The Cochrane tool for evaluating bias risk in randomized controlled trials was employed to appraise the methodological rigor of the studies incorporated in the analysis. Review Manager 5.3 was utilized to conduct the integration of effect sizes. Subgroup analyses were employed to probe potential sources of heterogeneity, while sensitivity analyses were executed to evaluate the robustness of the overall effect.
Results:
The review encompassed thirteen randomized controlled trials encompassing a total of 513 participants. The outcomes of the meta-analysis indicated that interventions utilizing virtual reality technology could exhibit a statistically significant enhancement in cognitive function(SMD = 0.61, 95% CI [0.25 ∼0.97], p= 0.0010), but not depression(SMD = -0.04, 95% CI [-0.39 ∼0.31], p = 0.82) and quality of life (SMD = 0.06, 95% CI [−0.21 ∼0.33], p = 0.67) within clinical populations. The sensitivity analysis demonstrated the robustness of the results for all three outcomes.
Conclusions:
Virtual reality technology interventions are innovative strategies to improve nursing clinical practice, which could enhance the cognitive function of clinical populations, but may have no significant effect on their depression and quality of life. Clinical Trial: PROSPERO CRD42023445000
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Copyright
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