Recruiting

Media Impact

Sponsor:

British Columbia Children's Hospital

Code:

NCT07073027

Conditions

Children

Adolescent

Anxiety

Pain

Education

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 5 - 23

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

2D video on smartphone

360 video on smartphone

360 video on smartphone inserted into VR cardboard headset

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether different forms of media (2D, 360, or 360 in virtual reality) have different impacts on pre-procedural anxiety and post-procedural pain in children. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does one type (and richness) of media reduce pre-procedural anxiety and post-procedural pain more than another type of media? For example, will learning about an upcoming procedure by watching a 360 video in virtual reality reduce pre-procedural anxiety more than learning about the same upcoming procedure by watching it in a 2D video or 360 video?

The second question is whether watching a 360 video in VR about an upcoming procedure more effective in reducing pre-procedural anxiety and post-procedural pain compared to the 2D video or the 360 video without VR groups for specific procedures? For example, is watching an explanation of a procedure in VR always more effective in reducing pre-procedural anxiety and post-procedural pain, or is it procedure specific (i.e., watching a video about surgery preparation is more effective in VR, but for cast removal it doesn't matter whether participants learn about their procedure viewed through VR, 360 video, or 2D)?

Conditions

Children

Adolescent

Anxiety

Pain

Education

Study ID

NCT07073027

Start date

Jul, 2025

Status verified date

Jul, 2025

Completion date

Mar, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Mar, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 5 - 23

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Between the ages of 5 to 23
  • Able to follow instructions and communicate in English
  • Own or have access to a smartphone
  • Scheduled for an upcoming (approved) procedure.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Under the age of 5 or older than 23
  • Vision, hearing, cognitive, and/or motor impairments
  • Cannot follow instructions and/or communicate in English
  • Do not own or have access to a smartphone.

Study Design

Enrollment

500 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: 2D video on phone

In the 2D video arm, participants will see still images of the procedural room and tools / medical equipment that are played in a video. Each video contains a series of still images of the procedure room and stills of tools / medical equipment used in the procedure room (e.g., cast saw for the cast removal procedure, a coil for the MRI scan, etc.). As the narrator describes each tool / medical equipment an enlarged image of that tool medical equipment appears along with text. The participants randomized into this arm will hear the same audio as the other 2 arms (360 video, 360 video in VR). The difference in this group is that participants cannot interact with their media (i.e., they cannot swipe their smart phone or move their phone to look around the procedural room unlike the 360 video groups).

active comparator: 360 video on phone without virtual reality

In the 360 video arm, participants will see a still image of the procedural room played in a video format. Each video contains a single still 360 image of the procedure room and the tools / medical equipment used in the procedure room (e.g., cast saw for the cast removal procedure, a coil for the MRI scan, etc.). As the narrator describes each tool / medical equipment an enlarged image of that tool medical equipment appears at the side of the tool / medical equipment along with text (similar to the 2D video). The participants randomized into this arm will hear the same audio as the other 2 arms (2D video, 360 video in VR). The difference in this group is that participants can interact with their media (i.e., they can swipe their smart phone using their finger to see an entire 360 view of the procedural room, but unlike the 360 VR group, this 360 group will not be using it the VR headset).

experimental: 360 video on phone in virtual reality

In the 360 video in virtual reality arm, participants will see a still image of the procedural room played in a video format. Each video contains a single still 360 image of the procedure room and the tools / medical equipment used in the procedure room (e.g., cast saw for the cast removal procedure, a coil for the MRI scan, etc.). As the narrator describes each tool / medical equipment an enlarged image of that tool medical equipment appears at the side of the tool / medical equipment along with text (similar to the 2D video). The participants randomized into this arm will hear the same audio as the other 2 arms (2D video, 360 video in VR). The difference in this group is that participants can interact with their media using a VR headset (i.e., they can move their head, or physically turn around which moves the point of view of the video and thus their view of the procedural room).

Interventions

2D video on smartphone

2D video with audio viewed on smartphone

360 video on smartphone

360 video with audio viewed on smartphone (not in virtual reality)

360 video on smartphone inserted into VR cardboard headset

360 video with audio in virtual reality

Primary outcome measure

  • Anxiety [ Time Frame: Baseline (immediately before the intervention) ]
  • Anxiety [ Time Frame: Periprocedural (immediately after the intervention) ]
  • Anxiety [ Time Frame: 1 day after procedure ]
  • Anxiety [ Time Frame: 1 week after procedure ]
  • Anxiety [ Time Frame: 4 weeks after procedure ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Brian Greeley, PhD

604-875 2345brian.greeley@digitallab.org

Locations

BC Children's Hospital

Recruiting

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6H 3N1

Contacts

Brian Greeley, PhD

604-875 2345brian.greeley@digitallab.org

More Information

Sponsor

British Columbia Children's Hospital

Last update posted

Jul 18, 2025

Last verified

Jul, 2025

Keywords

  • pre-procedural anxiety
  • exposure therapy
  • virtual reality
  • education
  • children and adolescents
  • gamification

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by British Columbia Children's Hospital on 2025-07-18.