NCT06693583

Mind Over Cervix: Using Virtual Reality to Reduce Colposcopy Anxiety

VR as a Distraction Technique for Management of Acute Anxiety and Pain During Outpatient Colposcopy Procedures - a Single Centre Randomised Control Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 141 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Ulster · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Colposcopy is an extremely important part of womens healthcare in the prevention of cervical cancer. Women report feeling extremely anxious attending colposcopy, due to the association with cancer and the intimate nature of the examination. The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate where the use of virtual reality headsets during outpatient colposcopy appointments has any effect on womens' experience. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are: * Does the use of virtual reality headsets reduce anxiety in patients attending colposcopy * Does the use of virtual reality headsets reduce pain in patients attending colposcopy Patients will offered to enroll in the trial when they attend for their colposcopy appointment. Participants will fill out a questionnaire to measure their anxiety beforehand and collect patient demographics. They will be randomly allocated into the intervention arm or the control arm. This means they will either use virtual reality headset in addition to the standard care, or have standard colposcopy care only After their colposcopy, they will then be asked to to fill out another questionnaire to measure anxiety and pain levels. If there is a comparison group: Researchers will compare the results from the women who had colposcopy while using the virtual reality headsets to women to see if there is any meaningful difference in anxiety while using the virtual reality headsets.

Conditions

• Anxiety
• Colposcopy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Virtual Reality Headsets	Virtual reality (VR) headsets are used as a form of distraction technique widely throughout healthcare. Women will be assisted to apply the VR prior to their colposcopy examination beginning. They will be shown an immersive video of walking through a forest that reminds them to breath deeply. The aim is that this will relax them during the colposcopy examination.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-05-22
• Primary completion: 2024-08-09
• Completion: 2024-08-22
• First posted: 2024-11-18
• Last updated: 2024-11-18

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom