Virtual Reality in the Treatment of Patients with Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review

Amal Al-Rasheed, Eatedal Alabdulkreem, Mai Alduailij, Mona Alduailij, Wadee Alhalabi, Seham Alharbi and Miltiadis D. Lytras
Additional contact information
Amal Al-Rasheed: Department of Information Systems, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
Eatedal Alabdulkreem: Department of Computer Sciences, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
Mai Alduailij: Department of Computer Sciences, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
Mona Alduailij: Department of Computer Sciences, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
Wadee Alhalabi: Computer Science Department, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80200, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Seham Alharbi: Computer Science Department, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80200, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Miltiadis D. Lytras: Effat College of Engineering, Effat University, P.O. Box 34747, Jeddah 21478, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Obesity is one of the world’s most serious health issues. Therefore, therapists have looked for methods to fight obesity. Currently, technology-based intervention options in medical settings are very common. One such technology is virtual reality (VR) which has been used in the treatment of obesity since the late 1990s. The main objective of this study is to review the literature on the use of VR in the treatment of obesity and overweight to better understand the role of VR-based interventions in this field. To this end, four databases (PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched for related publications from 2000 to 2022 using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). From the 645 articles identified, 24 were selected. The main strength of this study is that it is the first systematic review to focus completely on the use of VR in the treatment of obesity. It includes most research in which VR was utilized to carry out the intervention. Although several limitations were detected in the reviewed studies, the findings of this review suggest that employing VR for self-monitoring of diet, physical activity, and/or weight is effective in supporting weight loss as well as improving satisfaction of body image and promoting health self-efficacy in overweight or obese persons.

Keywords: virtual reality; virtual environment; obesity; overweight; weight loss; systematic review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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