EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENTS ON THERMAL PAIN DISTRACTION

This study investigated analgesia mechanisms by using virtual reality (VR) technology. We tested how the content of a virtual environment (VE) influences the intensity of experienced pain. Two different VE’s were used – relaxation and stimulation, and pain was triggered by heat stimuli. We used repeated experimental designs for the study. Thirty-two undergraduate psychology students participated, with each person being immersed in two VE`s while a heat stimulus was applied to their wrist. Objective and subjective pain measurements were collected on a visual analog scale (VAS) – the temperature of the heat stimulus and the participant`s assessment of pain intensity. Participants also filled in questionnaires designed to measure their temperaments and anxiety levels. We also recorded the subject`s respiratory rate. We found no significant difference between the two VE’s in their analgesic efficacy. Under both VR conditions participants endured significantly higher temperatures than under the no-VR condition. We found no signifi cant differences in the influence of temperament or anxiety on a specific VE efficacy.