The effect of virtual reality (VR) glasses and therapeutic touch (TT) on pain, anxiety, and patient satisfaction during intrauterine insemination (IUI) compared to standard care: a single-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Abstract

Background: Intrauterine insemination (IUI) also found that this experience was associated with anxiety. Therefore, measures must be taken to reduce or eliminate the pain and anxiety associated with it.

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of virtual reality glasses (VRG) and therapeutic touch (TT) on pain, anxiety and satisfaction during intrauterine insemination.

Methods: A single blind randomized controlled trial design was used. Patients were randomized into three groups: the virtual reality group (VRG, n = 32), the therapeutic touch group (TT, n = 32), and the control group (CG, n = 32). The study was conducted between January and June 2022 in the obstetric outpatient clinics of a public hospital in northern Türkiye. Anxiety was evaluated using the State Anxiety Inventory. Pain, and satisfaction were evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale [VAS]. "The study used non-parametric tests for its statistics."

Results: There was a significant difference in the pain level of the VRG group during IUI was lower than those of CG 3.7 ± 2.7 and TT 3.6 ± 2.9 (p = 0.01). Women were most satisfied with the TT application 9.2 ± 1.1 in the IUI procedure (p = 0.000). Anxiety levels after IUI were lower in the TT 43.0 ± 4.2 and VRG 43.9 ± 4.4 than in CG 49.9 ± 4.0 (p = 0.000).

Conclusion: VRG application was effective in reducing pain associated with IUI procedure in women. Although the use of VRG with music reduced the pain associated with IUI more than the TT application, the women left the TT application satisfied.

Trial registration: The study was registered at the Clinical Trials.gov website under the code NCT05192330. The first trial registration date was (12/01/2022).