The Effects of Virtual Reality on Pain Stages of Labor: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 MSc of Midwifery, Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Midwifery, Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

Abstract

Background: Today, the field of health is trying to reduce the pain in the delivery process, which is one of the most excruciating pains, so the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effects of virtual reality on pain Stages of natural delivery through a systematic review Study.
Methods: In this review study to access international documents English databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Cochrane, Web of Science and Science Direct using English keywords based on Mesh: "Virtual Reality", "Labor pain", "Pain", "Parturition" and for Persian databases from SID, Google Scholar, IRAN DOC and Magiran with Persian keywords "virtual reality", "labor pain", "pain" and possible combinations were performed and all published studies were included in the study until March 2022. Consort scale was used to evaluate the quality of articles included in the study.
Findings: According to the initial search, 932 articles were found, and finally 8 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Of these 8 studies, 7 studies reported labor pain and one study referred to episiotomy repair pain. The results of studies showed that virtual reality reduces pain during labor.
Conclusion: Considering the positive effect of virtual reality in reducing labor pain and ease of use, it is recommended to use it to reduce pain in different stages of labor.

Keywords


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