JMIR Serious Games最新文献

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/55785.].

Background: Immersive virtual reality (VR) is a promising therapy to improve the experience of patients with critical illness and may help avoid postdischarge functional impairments. However, the determinants of interest and usability may vary locally and reports of uptake in the literature are variable.

Objective: The aim of this mixed methods feasibility study was to assess the acceptability and potential utility of immersive VR in critically ill patients at a single institution.

Methods: Adults without delirium who were admitted to 1 of 2 intensive care units were offered the opportunity to participate in 5-15 minutes of immersive VR delivered by a VR headset. Patient vital signs, heart rate variability, mood, and pain were assessed before and after the VR experience. Pre-post comparisons were performed using paired 2-sided t tests. A semistructured interview was administered after the VR experience. Patient descriptions of the experience, issues, and potential uses were summarized with thematic analysis.

Results: Of the 35 patients offered the chance to participate, 20 (57%) agreed to partake in the immersive VR experience, with no difference in participation rate by age. Improvements were observed in overall mood (mean difference 1.8 points, 95% CI 0.6-3.0; P=.002), anxiety (difference of 1.7 points, 95% CI 0.8-2.7; P=.001), and pain (difference of 1.3 points, 95% CI 0.5-2.1; P=.003) assessed on 1-10 scales. The heart rate changed by a mean of -1.1 (95% CI -0.3 to -1.9; P=.008) beats per minute (bpm) from a baseline of 86.1 (SD 11.8) bpm and heart rate variability, assessed by the stress index (SI), changed by a mean of -5.0 (95% CI -1.5 to -8.5; P=.004) seconds^-2 from a baseline SI of 40.0 (SD 23) seconds^-2. Patients commented on the potential for the therapy to address pain, lessen anxiety, and facilitate calmness. Technical challenges were minimal and there were no adverse effects observed.

Conclusions: Patient acceptance of immersive VR was high in a mostly medical intensive care population with little prior VR experience. Patients commented on the potential of immersive VR to ameliorate cognitive and emotional symptoms. Investigators can consider integrating minimally modified commercial VR headsets into the existing intensive care unit workflow to further assess VR's efficacy for a variety of endpoints.

Unlabelled: Virtual reality (VR) is an immersive technology in which delivery of psychological therapy techniques can be automated. Techniques can be implemented similarly to real-world delivery or in ways that are not possible in the real world to enhance efficacy. The potential is for greater access for patients to effective therapy. Despite an increase in the use of VR for mental health, there are few descriptions of how to build and design automated VR therapies. We describe the development of Phoenix VR Self-Confidence Therapy, designed to increase positive self-beliefs in young patients diagnosed with psychosis in order to improve psychological well-being. A double-diamond, user-centered design process conducted over the course of 18 months was used, involving stakeholders from multiple areas: individuals with lived experience of psychosis, clinical psychologists, treatment designers, and VR software developers. Thirteen meetings were held with young patients diagnosed with psychosis to increase the understanding and improve the assessment of positive self-beliefs, help design the scenarios for implementing therapeutic techniques, and conduct user testing. The resulting Phoenix therapy is a class I United Kingdom Conformity Assessed (UKCA)-certified medical device designed to be used on the standalone Meta Quest 2 (Meta Platforms) headset. Phoenix aims to build up 3 types of positive self-beliefs that are connected to psychological well-being. In a community farm area, tasks are designed to increase a sense of mastery and achievement ("I can make a difference"); in a TV studio, users complete an activity with graded levels of difficulty to promote success in the face of a challenge ("I can do this"); and in a forest by a lake, activities are designed to encourage feelings of pleasure and enjoyment ("I can enjoy things"). Phoenix is delivered over the course of approximately 6 weekly sessions supported by a mental health provider. Patients can take the headsets home to use in between sessions. Usability testing with individuals with lived experience of psychosis, as well as patients in the National Health Service (aged 16-26 years), demonstrated that Phoenix is engaging, easy to use, and has high levels of satisfaction.

Background: Though the prevalence of diabetes is set to increase, most serious game solutions typically target patient self-management and education. Few games target health care professions education, and even fewer consider the factors that may increase their efficacies. The impact of facilitation, a prominent feature of health professions education, is examined in the context of a rehearsal-based diabetes management serious game.

Objective: In this mixed methods, open-label, superiority randomized controlled trial, we compare student performance, attitudes, and perceptions of a rehearsal-based diabetes management game for health care professionals.

Methods: Student participants were randomized into 2 groups to play a diabetes management game. The control group played the game alone, and the intervention group played the same game alongside a facilitator tasked to moderate overall challenge levels and address queries. Both groups were administered the Flow Short Scale, a 13-item measure rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("not at all") to 7 ("very much") immediately after the game. Students were then invited to voluntary focus group discussions to elicit their attitudes and perceptions of the game. Findings were subject to between-group comparisons and inductive thematic analysis respectively.

Results: A total of 48 (26 control, 22 intervention) clinical-year undergraduates from the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore participated in this study, with 18 continuing to the focus group discussions. Flow Short Scale results indicated the superiority of the intervention group for overall flow (t₄₆=-2.17, P=.04) and the absorption subdomain (t₄₆=-2.6, P=.01). Qualitative results indicated students viewed facilitation as helpful and appropriate, and were able to identify improvable elements of the game's theoretical foundations and overall design.

Conclusions: While serious games are efficacious means of rehearsing previously learned knowledge, facilitation allows for their efficiency to be greatly increased. Such increases are likely crucial in the coming years with the increased digitization of health care professions education and the prevalence of diabetes.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05637749; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05637749.