Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong YC*(1), Leung KY*(1), Tam V*(1), Wong CY(1), Ho E(1)
Affiliation :
*Contributed equally
(1)Haemodialysis Center, Department of Medicine, Tseung Kwan O Hospital
Introduction :
Renal patients may suffer from pain due to frequent arteriovenous fistula (AVF) or arteriovenous graft (AVG) cannulation for haemodialysis (HD). This may cause anxiety towards treatment.
Studies have explored the effect of visual distraction for non-cannulation procedures such as wound dressing. However, there was limited research studying the effect of visual distraction on cannulation pain and anxiety levels among HD patients.
Objectives :
To examine the effect of visual distraction on pain and anxiety level during vascular access cannulation among HD patients.
Methodology :
Participants watched a virtual reality (VR) video with a VR headset throughout the cannulation procedure. The study involved 4 HD sessions, one session as baseline, followed by three sessions with intervention.
The inclusion criteria were (1) aged above 18 years old (2) chronic HD patients undergo HD sessions 2 to 3 times a week (3) undergo HD sessions 4 hours or above (4) use AVF or AVG as the vascular access.
The Numerical Rating Scale was used for pain level assessment, rating from score 0-10. While the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety was used for anxiety level assessment, rating from score 0-100.
Result & Outcome :
31 patients were recruited from 1 June 2023 to 13 December 2024 in our HD center. The mean age of the participants was 62.94 ± 11.30. 55% of the participants were male and 45% were female. The majority (94%) of them used the AVF as the vascular access while two used the AVG. Their dialysis vintage ranged from 1 to 13 years.
23 (74.2%) participants experienced a reduction in pain level with visual distraction, from 4.03 ± 2.24 to 2.85 ± 1.62. The mean score was decreased 1.18 (p < 0.001).
25 (80.7%) participants reported a decrease in anxiety level with visual distraction, from 35.16 ± 25.15 to 18.01 ± 14.13. The mean score reduction was 17.15 (p < 0.001).
Visual distraction is effective in reducing pain and anxiety levels among HD patients during vascular access cannulation. Study with larger sample size is suggested to further evaluate the effectiveness of visual distraction on vascular access cannulation.
