Distraction Using VR for Children During IV in an Emergency Department

Distraction Using Virtual Reality for Children During Intravenous Injections in an Emergency Department: A Randomized Trial

Exploring the use of virtual reality as a distracting intervention strategy for school-age children to receive intravenous placement in emergency department, and further understand the effectiveness of reducing pain and fear during the invasive procedure.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children ages 7-12
• Children who were clearly conscious
• Children who agreed and were required to receive intravenous injections after physicians' diagnoses
• Children and their primary caregivers who could communicate in Mandarin or Taiwanese
• Children and their primary caregivers who could read Chinese that agreed to participate in this study and sign written consent forms

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with developmental delay, epilepsy, or heart diseases
• Children undergoing chemotherapy; children who were visually or hearing impaired
• Children who were nearsighted with more than 8.0 diopters or farsighted with 5.0 diopters
• Children who had sustained head trauma in the past month
• Children who were confirmed to be obese according to the recommended body mass index values for children and adolescents
• Children who required blood transfusions and blood preparation to be performed according to physician diagnoses
• Children who received two or more intravenous injections and had their blood drawn only one time