How Digital Media Affects Kids' Healthcare Experiences and Outcomes

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether different forms of media (2D, 360, or 360 in virtual reality) have different impacts on pre-procedural anxiety and post-procedural pain in children. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does one type (and richness) of media reduce pre-procedural anxiety and post-procedural pain more than another type of media? For example, will learning about an upcoming procedure by watching a 360 video in virtual reality reduce pre-procedural anxiety more than learning about the same upcoming procedure by watching it in a 2D video or 360 video? The second question is whether watching a 360 video in VR about an upcoming procedure more effective in reducing pre-procedural anxiety and post-procedural pain compared to the 2D video or the 360 video without VR groups for specific procedures? For example, is watching an explanation of a procedure in VR always more effective in reducing pre-procedural anxiety and post-procedural pain, or is it procedure specific (i.e., watching a video about surgery preparation is more effective in VR, but for cast removal it doesn't matter whether participants learn about their procedure viewed through VR, 360 video, or 2D)?

NCT Number	NCT07073027
Lead Sponsor	British Columbia Children's Hospital
Conditions	Children, Adolescent, Anxiety, Pain, Education, Exposure, Virtual Reality
Enrollment	500 participants
Start Date	2025-07
Primary Completion	2026-03 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-03 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-07-18