The Effect of Virtual Reality on Pain and Anxiety During Blood Collection in Adults

In hospitals, venous blood sampling as the first step in diagnosis and planning of medical treatment is among the most basic and common procedures all over the world. Before the diagnosis and treatment of acute or chronic health problems, venous blood is requested from the doctors and the blood sample is collected by the nurses. Patients experience anxiety for reasons such as the fear of experiencing pain during the blood donation process, fear of seeing blood and fear that blood-borne diseases will pass. Pain and anxiety because of invasive procedures lead to prolongation of the examination period and treatment procedures, and the rejection of treatment. Various distraction methods such as pharmacological local anesthetic creams, non-pharmacologically vibrating tourniquet, buzzy device, virtual reality have been used to reduce pain during invasive procedures. Vibrating tourniquet application during blood collection in pediatric patients was found to be effective on the pain felt. In another study conducted in pediatric patients, it was found that using a buzzy device, watching cartoons, and playing digital games during blood collection were effective in pain and fear management. Virtual reality is defined as "a technology that allows three-dimensional pictures and animations created in the computer environment to interact with these objects in the environment, which gives the feeling of being in a real environment in people's minds with technological tools". In the studies, virtual reality was applied in many studies during blood collection in pediatric patients. It was found that children who used virtual reality during invasive procedures in the pediatric nephrology clinic reported lower pain intensity and stress level compared to the control group. In the literature, research involving an attempt to reduce pain and anxiety during blood collection in adult patients has been found and studies involving attempts to reduce pain and anxiety during other invasive procedures are limited. In a study examining the pain and fear of adult outpatients during the treatment, it was found that the pain and anxiety levels of the virtual reality application group were low and they were highly satisfied with virtual reality. The aim of this research is to determine the effect of virtual reality on pain and anxiety during blood collection of patients who applied to the blood collection unit of a university hospital.