Effects of Preoperative Virtual Reality on Surgical Fear and Anxiety in Patients

Preoperative fear and anxiety are common among patients undergoing orthopedic surgery and may adversely affect perioperative outcomes. This quasi-experimental study will aim to evaluate the effectiveness of preoperative virtual reality (VR) exposure in reducing surgical fear and anxiety among adult orthopedic patients. A non-randomized controlled pretest-posttest study will be conducted with 74 adult patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. Participants will be assigned to either a VR intervention group (n=37) or a control group (n=37). Patients in the intervention group will receive immersive nature and underwater VR content in addition to standard preoperative care, whereas those in the control group will receive standard care alone. Surgical fear and anxiety will be assessed before and after the intervention using the Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The study is expected to provide evidence regarding the feasibility and potential effectiveness of VR as a safe, non-pharmacological nursing intervention for reducing preoperative anxiety and surgical fear in orthopedic patients. The findings may guide the integration of VR into preoperative nursing care and inform future randomized controlled trials with larger samples.