Background: Virtual reality has proven to be effective in lessening anxiety and improving
women’s experiences in the medical and surgical field. Aim of the Research was to evaluate the
effect application of immersive virtual reality as a distraction method on anxiety and satisfaction of
women undergoing cesarean section. Research Design: A quasi-experimental research design (two
groups, the study and control groups) was used. Research Setting: The research was conducted in
Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Benha University Hospital. Subjects: A purposive
sample included 170 women undergoing cesarean sections and divided equally into the study and
control groups. Tools of data collection: Three tools were used for data collection; Tool 1)
structured interviewing questionnaire, Tool 2) novel visual facial anxiety scale and Tool 3)
postoperative cesarean section satisfaction among delivered mothers questionnaire. Results: During
application of virtual reality, 54.1% of the study group and 37.6% of the control group had mild
visual facial anxiety. Also, after application of virtual reality, 41.2% of the study group and 21.2%
of the control group had no visual facial anxiety. In addition, 72.9% of the study groups were
satisfied with cesarean section after application of virtual reality and routine hospital care compared
to 35.3% of the control group who only received routine hospital care. Besides, there were
statistically significant relations between total visual facial anxiety scores with only the age and
(gravidity & parity) of the study group before application of virtual reality p ≤ 0.05. Conclusion:
Virtual reality application was an effective method in reduction of anxiety of women undergoing
cesarean section. Moreover, the study group was satisfied with all provided dimensions of routine
hospital care more than the control group at 2 hours postoperative due to the distractive effect of the
application of virtual reality during cesarean section. |
