The Effect of Virtual Reality Application on Pain During Wound Care Dressing Change: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

To evaluate the effect of virtual reality application on pain during a wound care dressing change. Systematic review and meta-analysis PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), and YÖKTEZ The last screening of all databases was performed on 20.07.2022. Parallel-group RCTs suitable for the research subject were included in the study. The “Cochrane risk-of-bias tool” was used to measure the risk of bias. A heterogeneity test was done with the I2 value and the p value for the Q statistics. Five methods were employed to assess publication bias. Sensitivity analysis was performed for studies with a high risk of bias. As a result of the screening, 13 RCTs involving 882 wound care patients were included in the study. It was determined that the virtual reality application reduced pain moderately during a wound care dressing change (SMD= -0.60; 95% CI= –0.73 and –0.46; p < .001). The fixed effect model was used because the value of heterogeneity (I2 = 0%, p = 0.796) was low in the analysis. No significant results were obtained in the moderator analysis. It was found that the virtual reality application moderately reduced pain during a wound dressing change and was a reliable application. However, it was suggested that the virtual reality application alone was insufficient to reduce pain during wound care and should be applied together with analgesic or anesthetic drugs included in the standard wound care procedure.