Virtual Reality to Combat Weight-Based Implicit Bias: BWH Pilot Study
NCT ID: NCT07283523
Last Updated: 2025-12-16
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
NA
52 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2024-11-19
2026-12-31
Brief Summary
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Does watching VR experience of two clinical encounters reduce implicit bias association test scores? Is the VR experience an acceptable intervention tool for reducing implicit bias?
Researchers will compare weight-based VR experiences consisting of two observed clinical encounters to a neutral education VR encounter to see if our intervention significantly impacts implicit bias association scores.
Participants will be asked
1. Complete Implicit Association test for weight-based bias pre-intervention and post-intervention (immediately, at one week, and one month after the intervention) to assess their implicit bias
2. Watch either experimental clinical encounter videos or neutral education video using a VR headset
3. Participants will also complete an abbreviated IAT related to views on compliance
Detailed Description
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Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
NONE
Study Groups
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Clinical Encounters VR Videos
360 Video on a Virtual Reality Headset
Two 360- videos watched via a VR headset where the study subject will witness a positive physician encounter with a compliant obese patient and a negative encounter with a non-compliant non-obese patient
Control Neutral VR Video
360-Control Video
A neutral education video from the New England Journal of Medicine watched in a 360-theatre setting via a VR headset
Interventions
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360 Video on a Virtual Reality Headset
Two 360- videos watched via a VR headset where the study subject will witness a positive physician encounter with a compliant obese patient and a negative encounter with a non-compliant non-obese patient
360-Control Video
A neutral education video from the New England Journal of Medicine watched in a 360-theatre setting via a VR headset
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Resident physicians providing informed consent to participate
18 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
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Brigham and Women's Hospital
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Daniel Palazuelos
Principal Investigator
Locations
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Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Countries
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References
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Peck TC, Seinfeld S, Aglioti SM, Slater M. Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar reduces implicit racial bias. Conscious Cogn. 2013 Sep;22(3):779-87. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.016. Epub 2013 May 28.
Marini M, Waterman PD, Breedlove E, Chen JT, Testa C, Reisner SL, Pardee DJ, Mayer KH, Krieger N. The target/perpetrator brief-implicit association test (B-IAT): an implicit instrument for efficiently measuring discrimination based on race/ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, weight, and age. BMC Public Health. 2021 Jan 19;21(1):158. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10171-7.
Gonzalez-Liencres C, Zapata LE, Iruretagoyena G, Seinfeld S, Perez-Mendez L, Arroyo-Palacios J, Borland D, Slater M, Sanchez-Vives MV. Being the Victim of Intimate Partner Violence in Virtual Reality: First- Versus Third-Person Perspective. Front Psychol. 2020 May 8;11:820. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00820. eCollection 2020.
Banakou D, Slater M. Body ownership causes illusory self-attribution of speaking and influences subsequent real speaking. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 9;111(49):17678-83. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1414936111. Epub 2014 Nov 24.
Salmanowitz N. The impact of virtual reality on implicit racial bias and mock legal decisions. J Law Biosci. 2018 Apr 19;5(1):174-203. doi: 10.1093/jlb/lsy005. eCollection 2018 May.
Banakou D, Kishore S, Slater M. Virtually Being Einstein Results in an Improvement in Cognitive Task Performance and a Decrease in Age Bias. Front Psychol. 2018 Jun 11;9:917. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00917. eCollection 2018.
Bertrand P, Guegan J, Robieux L, McCall CA, Zenasni F. Learning Empathy Through Virtual Reality: Multiple Strategies for Training Empathy-Related Abilities Using Body Ownership Illusions in Embodied Virtual Reality. Front Robot AI. 2018 Mar 22;5:26. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2018.00026. eCollection 2018.
Marini M, Rubichi S, Sartori G. The role of self-involvement in shifting IAT effects. Exp Psychol. 2012;59(6):348-54. doi: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000163.
Lai CK, Marini M, Lehr SA, Cerruti C, Shin JE, Joy-Gaba JA, Ho AK, Teachman BA, Wojcik SP, Koleva SP, Frazier RS, Heiphetz L, Chen EE, Turner RN, Haidt J, Kesebir S, Hawkins CB, Schaefer HS, Rubichi S, Sartori G, Dial CM, Sriram N, Banaji MR, Nosek BA. Reducing implicit racial preferences: I. A comparative investigation of 17 interventions. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014 Aug;143(4):1765-85. doi: 10.1037/a0036260. Epub 2014 Mar 24.
Tappolet C, Teroni, F, Ziv, AK. Shadows of the Soul: Philosophical Perspectives on Negative Emotions. 2018
Other Identifiers
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2022P001287
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id