Experiential and Relaxation Virtual Reality as a Tool for Easing Anxiety in Seriously Ill Children

NCT ID: NCT06915883

Last Updated: 2025-06-18

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

50 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-12-20

Study Completion Date

2025-08-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The goal of this clinical trial is to assess the use of experiential and relaxation virtual reality (VR) interventions in easing anxiety and other distress symptoms in children with life-limiting and/or life-threatening conditions (LLC/LTC). The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does experiential and relaxation VR help to decrease anxiety in severely ill children?
2. What effect does it have on pain and fear?
3. Is there a difference between experiential and relaxation VR in the observed outcome measures?
4. How is the newly developed relaxation VR app BreezeTerraVR perceived by children with LLC/LTC?
5. How do caregivers of the patients perceive VR as an intervention tool for psychological distress? Researchers will compare baseline levels of outcome measures (e.g. anxiety) to post-intervention levels to determine if there is an effect.

Participants will:

* Experience both types of VR interventions-experiential and relaxation VR-for 7 to 15 minutes in two sessions (the number of days between sessions will depend on each child's medical plan), the order of interventions is randomized.
* Fill out a set of short questionnaires before and after each intervention (approximately 5 minutes per phase).

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Pediatric Palliative Care Life Limiting Conditions Life Threatening Diseases

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

CROSSOVER

Two virtual reality interventions (experiential and relaxation) are provided to subjects at different time periods, the sequence of treatments is randomized for each subject.
Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

ARM 1: relaxation VR followed by experiential VR

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Relaxation virtual reality (VR)

Intervention Type DEVICE

A newly developed self-guided app BreezeTrerraVR that helps patients practice relaxation breathing in an immersive virtual environment, using voice prompts, visual cues, and respiratory biofeedback for guidance. The app was developed in the VR center at the National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic (supported by THE JOHANNES AMOS COMENIUS PROGRAMME (OP JAC) EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH, Title: Research of Excellence on Digital Technologies and Wellbeing, Project Registration Number: CZ. 02.01.01/00/22\_008/0004583).

Experiential virtual reality (VR)

Intervention Type DEVICE

The experiential VR intervention will use the VR program "Ocean Rift" (an experience of the underwater world and its animals). It is a calm experiential and distraction game program that does not require much mobility and interaction and is therefore suitable for pediatric patients and hospital environments. This VR application is also used in available published research.

ARM 2: experiential VR followed by relaxation VR

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Relaxation virtual reality (VR)

Intervention Type DEVICE

A newly developed self-guided app BreezeTrerraVR that helps patients practice relaxation breathing in an immersive virtual environment, using voice prompts, visual cues, and respiratory biofeedback for guidance. The app was developed in the VR center at the National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic (supported by THE JOHANNES AMOS COMENIUS PROGRAMME (OP JAC) EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH, Title: Research of Excellence on Digital Technologies and Wellbeing, Project Registration Number: CZ. 02.01.01/00/22\_008/0004583).

Experiential virtual reality (VR)

Intervention Type DEVICE

The experiential VR intervention will use the VR program "Ocean Rift" (an experience of the underwater world and its animals). It is a calm experiential and distraction game program that does not require much mobility and interaction and is therefore suitable for pediatric patients and hospital environments. This VR application is also used in available published research.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Relaxation virtual reality (VR)

A newly developed self-guided app BreezeTrerraVR that helps patients practice relaxation breathing in an immersive virtual environment, using voice prompts, visual cues, and respiratory biofeedback for guidance. The app was developed in the VR center at the National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic (supported by THE JOHANNES AMOS COMENIUS PROGRAMME (OP JAC) EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH, Title: Research of Excellence on Digital Technologies and Wellbeing, Project Registration Number: CZ. 02.01.01/00/22\_008/0004583).

Intervention Type DEVICE

Experiential virtual reality (VR)

The experiential VR intervention will use the VR program "Ocean Rift" (an experience of the underwater world and its animals). It is a calm experiential and distraction game program that does not require much mobility and interaction and is therefore suitable for pediatric patients and hospital environments. This VR application is also used in available published research.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* age 7-17.9 years
* sufficient level of contact with the environment and ability to cooperate
* children and parents fluent in Czech
* diagnosis of a life-threatening or life-limiting disease according to the internationally accepted list of palliatively relevant diagnoses
* pediatric patients treated at the University Hospital Motol

Exclusion Criteria

* age below 7 or above 17.9 years
* unstable health status
* inability to speak Czech
* absence of parental consent for participation in the study
Minimum Eligible Age

7 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

17 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Motol University Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Charles University, Czech Republic

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Anna Zubková

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Iveta Fajnerova, MSc, PhD

Role: STUDY_CHAIR

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

University Hospital Motol

Prague, Czech Republic, Czechia

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Czechia

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Anna Zubkova, MSc

Role: CONTACT

+420 608 555 964

Lucie Hrdlickova, MD, PhD

Role: CONTACT

+420 737 153 689

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Lucie Hrdlickova, MD, PhD

Role: primary

+420 737 153 689

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Gerceker GO, Bektas M, Aydinok Y, Oren H, Ellidokuz H, Olgun N. The effect of virtual reality on pain, fear, and anxiety during access of a port with huber needle in pediatric hematology-oncology patients: Randomized controlled trial. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2021 Feb;50:101886. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2020.101886. Epub 2020 Dec 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33321461 (View on PubMed)

Fraser LK, Gibson-Smith D, Jarvis S, Norman P, Parslow R. 'Make Every Child Count' Estimating current and future prevalence of children and young people with life-limiting conditions in the United Kingdom FINAL REPORT FEBRUARY 2020. 2020;(February):1-61

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Foundation WBF. Wong-Baker FACES® Pain Rating Scale. 2016.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Caruso TJ, George A, Menendez M, De Souza E, Khoury M, Kist MN, Rodriguez ST. Virtual reality during pediatric vascular access: A pragmatic, prospective randomized, controlled trial. Paediatr Anaesth. 2020 Feb;30(2):116-123. doi: 10.1111/pan.13778. Epub 2019 Dec 19.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31785015 (View on PubMed)

Toman J. Škály na měření úzkosti a úzkostlivosti u dětí. Praha: Národní ústav pro vzdělávání; 2018.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

McMurtry CM, Noel M, Chambers CT, McGrath PJ. Children's fear during procedural pain: preliminary investigation of the Children's Fear Scale. Health Psychol. 2011 Nov;30(6):780-8. doi: 10.1037/a0024817. Epub 2011 Aug 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21806301 (View on PubMed)

Kennedy R, Lane N, Berbaum K, Lilienthal M. Simulator Sickness Questionnaire: An enhanced method for quantifying simulator sickness. Int J Aviat Psychol. 1993;3(3):203-20.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

187724

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

EK-670/24

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.

Preparing Kids for MRI Using VR
NCT07203716 NOT_YET_RECRUITING NA