Preparation of pediatric patients with the "Super Heart Team Ready for Action" virtual reality animated film before cardiac catheterization: A randomized controlled trial.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the impact of a virtual reality (VR) based educational animated film on preoperative anxiety and fear, and postoperative pain levels among children undergoing cardiac catheterization.

METHODS

This parallel group randomized controlled study was conducted between February and September 2025 in the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic of a university hospital in western Turkey. Children aged 5-10 years were randomly assigned to the control group (n = 21), which received standard clinical care, or to the experimental group (n = 21), which watched an animated film via VR glasses in addition to standard care. Anxiety, fear, pain, and vital signs were assessed using validated instruments. Nonparametric analyses were used for inter- and intra-group comparisons.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference between the descriptive characteristics of the groups. However, a significant difference was found between the Children Fear Scale (CFS) and Children Anxiety Scale-State (CSA) scores of the experimental and control groups after cardiac catheterization (p < 0.05), and post-procedure CFS and CSA scores were significantly lower in the experimental group (p < 0.05). In addition, pain levels assessed using the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Scale showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups after cardiac catheterization (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The study showed that watching the virtual reality-supported educational animation film significantly reduced children's pre-procedure fear and anxiety levels and alleviated their post-procedure pain levels.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: This result demonstrated that the use of visual-auditory, interactive, and developmentally appropriate materials is an effective method in preparing children for invasive or surgical procedures.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: NCT07276893https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07276893.