Virtual Reality (VR) Technology for Treatment of Mental Health Problems during COVID-19: A Systematic Review

Muhammad Hizri Hatta, Hatta Sidi, Chong Siew Koon, Nur Aishah Che Roos, Shalisah Sharip, Farah Deena Abdul Samad, Ong Wan Xi, Srijit Das and Suriati Mohamed Saini
Additional contact information
Muhammad Hizri Hatta: Department of Psychiatry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Hatta Sidi: Department of Psychiatry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Chong Siew Koon: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ), Kuala Terengganu 20400, Malaysia
Nur Aishah Che Roos: Faculty of Medicine and Defence Health, National Defence University of Malaysia, Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
Shalisah Sharip: Department of Psychiatry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Farah Deena Abdul Samad: Department of Psychiatry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Ong Wan Xi: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ), Kuala Terengganu 20400, Malaysia
Srijit Das: Department of Human & Clinical Anatomy, College of Medicine & Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khoud, Muscat 123, Oman
Suriati Mohamed Saini: Department of Psychiatry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: There was a surge in psychological distress and emotional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual reality (VR) is helpful as a psychological intervention whilst maintaining physical or social distancing. The present systematic review assessed the role of VR as a psychological intervention tool for mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a systematic review that followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. This study used the search-related terms: (Virtual reality OR simulated-3D-environment OR VR) AND (covid! or corona!) AND (mental* OR psychologic* OR well* OR health*) AND (intervention) on six databases, i.e., MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Ovid Medline, EMBASE, ACM digital library, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from the inception date until 23 June 2021. We finally included four studies in the systematic review out of the 379 references imported for screening. These studies reveal that VR is beneficial as a psychological tool for intervention in individuals with mental health problems. Immersed in the telepresence, interacting in a 3-D format compared to a 2-D layout, having a sense of enjoyment and engagement, activating an affective-motivational state, “escaping” to a virtual from the real world are pivotal faucets of VR as a psychological tool for intervention.

Keywords: virtual reality; tool; psychological; emotional; mental; health; problems; pandemic; review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5389/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5389/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5389-:d:804809

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().