Hypnosis and Virtual Reality in Bone Marrow Examination

Effectiveness of Recorded Hypnosis and Virtual Reality in Patients Undergoing a Bone Marrow Examination at the Hematology Unit

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the effects of hypnosis, virtual reality or their combination in patients undergoing a bone marrow procedure.

The main question it aims to answer is whether such interventions may relieve anxiety and other symptoms described by patients undergoing the procedure.

Before the bone marrow procedure and after being explained on the study and signing informed consent, the nurse will measure vital signs and participants will fill-out a 2-minutes' questionnaire and will be assigned to one of 3 groups:

• Hearing a 7-minutes hypnotic script via earphones
• Seeing and hearing virtual images and sounds via a virtual reality device during 7 minutes
• None of these After these interventions or 10 minutes after assignation for patients not receiving intervention, patients will fill questionnaires again (about 5 minutes for filling the 2 questionnaires) and vital signs will be measured again. Then the bone marrow procedure will be performed. After the bone marrow procedure, the participants will fill-out another 2-minutes questionnaire and vital signs will be measured by the nurse.

Researchers will compare hypnotic script, virtual reality, their combination or none of them to see if they can affect anxiety and other complaints in patients undergoing a bone marrow procedure.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age 18 or older
2. Candidate for a BM examination at the hematology unit
3. Ability to answer questionnaires in Hebrew, Arabic or Russian
4. Informed consent form signing

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Major hearing impairment
2. Major visual impairment.