The effect of vırtual realıty glasses used durıng colonoscopy on vıtal sıgns, paın and anxıety level

Colonoscopy is an uncomfortable procedure that causes pain and anxiety for the patient. This situation negatively affects patients' co-operation with the team, vital signs and satisfaction. Although analgesia and sedation are often used during the procedure to prevent these problems, they may increase the complications that may develop due to colonoscopy. Non-pharmacological methods are recommended as an alternative to sedation. During the procedure, virtual reality glasses are a new method that is used to divert attention, has no side effects, reduces pain and anxiety of the patient and accelerates recovery. In the light of this information, it is a technique that can be preferred in nursing practices, and there are a limited number of studies in which virtual reality glasses used during the colonoscopy procedure are used to divert attention without side effects. This study aimed to determine the effect of virtual reality glasses used during the colonoscopy procedure on vital signs, pain and anxiety levels. The population of the study consisted of 60 patients (experiment: 30, control: 30) who applied to the Endoscopy unit of Health Sciences University Istanbul Prof. Dr. Cemil Taşçıoğlu City Hospital for colonoscopy between 1 September 2020 and 1 September 2021 and met the inclusion criteria. The data of the study; "Descriptive Information Form", "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI TX I-II)", "Visual Analogue Scale-Pain (VAS-P)", "Life Findings Monitoring Form" and "Evaluation of Satisfaction with Virtual Reality Glasses Application" forms were collected. Patients in the experimental group were shown 360° virtual reality glasses with music background, ranging from 3 to 10 minutes during the procedure, and were shown videos that they wanted to watch from seaside and underwater videos and could change them at any time. In both groups, vital signs, pain and anxiety scores were evaluated before and after the procedure. Only the patients in the experimental group were asked about their satisfaction with the virtual reality glasses. When the vital signs of the patients in the experimental and control groups were compared, no statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p>0.05). The STAI-I level of the patients in the experimental group was statistically significantly lower after the procedure than before the procedure (p<0.001). When the pain scores of the patients after the colonoscopy procedure were analysed, it was found that the pain scores of the patients in the experimental group were statistically significantly lower (p<0.001). It was determined that the level of satisfaction of the patients in the experimental group with the virtual reality video application was high and all of the patients who underwent the application wanted to have a colonoscopy procedure again with the virtual reality glasses application. In line with these results, it is recommended to use virtual reality glasses during all kinds of painful and invasive procedures that adversely affect pain, anxiety and vital signs, and to conduct multicentre randomised controlled studies with larger sample groups because it increases the satisfaction of patients.