Virtual Reality-Enabled Digital Storytelling

NCT ID: NCT07167030

Last Updated: 2025-09-16

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 112 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-11-01
• Study Completion Date: 2026-12-30

Brief Summary

Current scientific literature on VR details primarily focuses on fear and anxiety during childbirth. Variables such as attachment, fear, and self-efficacy are often considered independently. Therefore, in addition to interventions focused on the prenatal period, a need arose for holistic audiovisual and technologically supported intervention models that simultaneously address multidimensional aspects of life, such as prenatal attachment, fear of childbirth, and perception of childbirth self-efficacy.

Detailed Description

This study is a randomized controlled trial conducted to evaluate the effects of digital storytelling applied to primiparous pregnant women via virtual reality glasses on prenatal attachment, fear of childbirth, perception of childbirth self-efficacy, and non-stress test results. The study will consist of two groups: an experimental and a control group. Participants in the experimental group will access a digital storytelling training program via virtual reality glasses and receive information and guidance on topics such as prenatal attachment, fear of childbirth, and perception of childbirth self-efficacy. Participants in the control group will receive standard care.

Conditions

Primiparous Pregnant Women

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

İntervention Arm

Participants in the intervention group will receive digital storytelling modules using virtual reality (VR) headsets once a week for four weeks, starting at 28 weeks of gestation. Each module will include three topics (2-10 minutes). After each topic, there will be a rest period followed by an interactive session. The final two modules will be administered during the NST recording, and mother and baby status will be monitored. Each module, including the interactive session, will last 45-50 minutes. Participants will receive an educational brochure after the module and will be reminded via WhatsApp.

Posttests (at the end of 36 weeks of gestation):

• Prenatal Attachment Inventory
• Wijma Birth Expectations/Experiences Questionnaire Version A
• Short Version of the Labor Self-Efficacy Scale
• Satisfaction Level Information Form for the VR Headset Application
• NST Follow-up Form
• Video Immersion Scale

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Virtual Reality Digital Storytelling

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants in the intervention group will receive digital storytelling modules using virtual reality (VR) headsets once a week for four weeks, starting at 28 weeks of gestation. Each module will include three topics (2-10 minutes). After each topic, there will be a rest period followed by an interactive session. The final two modules will be administered during the NST recording, and mother and baby status will be monitored. Each module, including the interactive session, will last 45-50 minutes. Participants will receive an educational brochure after the module and will be reminded via WhatsApp.

Control Arm

Participants in the control group will receive routine care.

Posttests (at the end of 36 weeks of gestation):

• Prenatal Attachment Inventory
• Wijma Birth Expectations/Experiences Questionnaire Version A
• Short Version of the Labor Self-Efficacy Scale
• NST Follow-up Form

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Virtual Reality Digital Storytelling

Participants in the intervention group will receive digital storytelling modules using virtual reality (VR) headsets once a week for four weeks, starting at 28 weeks of gestation. Each module will include three topics (2-10 minutes). After each topic, there will be a rest period followed by an interactive session. The final two modules will be administered during the NST recording, and mother and baby status will be monitored. Each module, including the interactive session, will last 45-50 minutes. Participants will receive an educational brochure after the module and will be reminded via WhatsApp.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Primiparous women in their 28th week of pregnancy
• Between the ages of 18 and 40
• Experiencing a singleton pregnancy
• Applied to the Yozgat City Hospital Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic and agreed to participate in the study
• Have a primary school education and can understand Turkish
• Have no serious vision or balance problems that would prevent the use of VR glasses
• Have not experienced any risky pregnancy problems (premature membrane rupture, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, etc.)
• Have no identified fetal anomalies
• Have no psychiatric diagnosis

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnant women who cannot obtain a work permit and who do not agree to participate in the study will not be included in the study.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 40 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Bozok University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

RUKİYE DİKMEN

Lecturer

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Central Contacts

RUKİYE DİKMEN, PhD Student

Role: CONTACT

rukiye.dikmen@yobu.edu.tr

+905433686510

Other Identifiers

1231

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id