Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive virtual reality (VR) play intervention
including instructional play and emotional catharsis play sessions in reducing children's pain and
fear during intravenous placement.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial with parallel groups was conducted. The sample consisted of 134
hospitalized children aged 6e12 years (intervention group: n ¼ 69; comparison group: n ¼ 65). The intervention
involved one immersive intravenous scene in VR before the actual intravenous placement and one
emotional catharsis VR play after injection. The comparison group received an educational photo book about
intravenous placement before receiving intravenous placement. The children and their caregivers rated their
pain and fear by using the WongeBaker FACES Pain Rating Scale and the Children's Fear Scale. The time
required for successful intravenous insertionwas also compared between the two groups.
Results: Children's pain (p ¼ .028) and fear scores (p ¼ .004) were significantly lower in the intervention
group than in the comparison group. Their caregivers' pain and fear scores (both p < .001) were
significantly lower in the intervention group. The time required for successful intravenous insertion did
not differ significantly between the intervention and comparison groups.
Conclusions: The interactive play intervention with VR effectively reduced children's levels of pain and
fear during the intravenous placement procedure. The results of this study can serve as a reference for
the implementation of a feasible, child-friendly care practice for clinical intravenous placement in
school-aged children.